Evenepoel can make history

Remco Evenepoel could become the first man in history to win four consecutive world titles in the Elite time trial. Yet, on the eve of the World Championships in Montreal, for the Belgian, the race against the clock seems almost like just a step closer to his greater goal: returning to the rainbow jersey in the road race.

Remco Evenepoel arrived in Canada with a clear agenda. His victory at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec immediately confirmed his good form: the Belgian prevailed over Giulio Ciccone in a two-man sprint after leading much of the finale. Two days later, however, in Montreal, the feeling was different. Evenepoel missed the decisive moment of the race and had to settle for fifth place, while Isaac Del Toro beat Paul Seixas ahead of him.

A result that doesn't seem to have changed the plans of the Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe rider. His Canadian project was built primarily around the World Championships and, in particular, the road race on September 27th.

First, however, there is a page of history to be written.

Four consecutive World Cups: no one has ever achieved that.

On Sunday, Evenepoel will set out to defend the time trial world title he's won over the past three seasons. After Glasgow 2023, Zurich 2024, and Kigali 2025, another victory would make him the first elite male rider to win four consecutive time trial World Championships.

His relationship with this discipline at the World Championships is impressive. Since his debut in the Elite category, Evenepoel has consistently finished on the podium at every World Championships: silver in 2019, bronze in 2021 and 2022, then three consecutive gold medals from 2023 to 2025. In Kigali, twelve months ago, his dominance reached perhaps its highest point: the Belgian won by 1'14" over Jay Vine and during the race caught and overtook Tadej Pogačar, who had started two and a half minutes earlier.

Rounding out the picture is the Olympic gold he won in Paris 2024, ahead of Filippo Ganna and Wout van Aert. Considering the Olympics and World Championships, Evenepoel has therefore won the last four major international time trials in which he has participated.

Even in 2026 Remco remained unbeatable against time

The team change didn't change the hierarchy. In his first season with Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, Evenepoel continued to build on his dominance in the discipline.

At the Tour de France, he provided further proof: in the 26.1-kilometer time trial between Évian-les-Bains and Thonon-les-Bains, he took his third consecutive victory in a time trial of the Grande Boucle, following those in 2024 and 2025. He then finished the Tour with second place in the general classification.

In Montreal, he'll still have to contend with some of the world's best specialists, starting with Filippo Ganna and Stefan Küng. But in recent years, Evenepoel's time trial lead has transformed the Belgian into the absolute benchmark in the discipline.

And this is precisely the paradox of his World Cup.

A fourth consecutive rainbow jersey would be an unprecedented achievement. For any other rider, it would be the highlight of their entire season. For Evenepoel, it almost risks being considered routine.

The real obsession is the online test

The big Canadian objective seems to be the following week.

Evenepoel is aiming to regain his road world title after winning it in Wollongong in 2022. Tadej Pogačar's absence inevitably changes the race landscape and increases the Belgian's chances, but the competition remains extremely high: Isaac Del Toro and Paul Seixas have just shown their form on the same roads as the Montréal GP, while Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert are other names to keep an eye on.

The victory in Quebec showed Evenepoel was powerful, capable of winning even after a selective race. Montreal, however, showed a few more difficulties, especially during the decisive accelerations. But the Belgian immediately downplayed the significance of that day, explaining that he had no reason to be alarmed ahead of the World Championships.

And this is probably the most interesting point of his Canadian week.

On Sunday, Remco Evenepoel could make cycling history by becoming the first man to win four consecutive World Time Trial Championships. But we'll have to wait another seven days to truly understand whether his Canadian expedition was a success.

Because now, when it comes to Evenepoel, even a world record can only be the first chapter.