Evenepoel Declares Peak Form Ahead of World time Trial Title defence
Kigali, Rwanda – Remco Evenepoel believes he is entering the UCI Road world Championships in peak condition, expressing confidence ahead of his defence of the individual time trial title tomorrow. The Belgian champion, speaking before the race, stated he feels “the best I’ve done all season,” and is motivated by the prospect of making history.
Evenepoel is aiming for a third consecutive victory in the event, a feat achieved by only a select group of riders. “Once you have a jersey like that, you don’t want to give it up, especially when you know the course suits you,” he said. “How many riders have won three times in a row? That’s a nice challenge: I want to add my name to that list and even surpass it. It would be great to achieve a historic feat here - that would be special.”
Despite a course featuring 680 metres of elevation, potentially favouring a rider like Tadej Pogačar, Evenepoel remains optimistic. He described the route as “wide,mostly straight,not technical,lots of positioning,” and welcomed the constant changes in gradient. “You definitely shouldn’t push yourself too hard in the first part.The toughest climbs are at the end, where you need to be able to go all out two more times. The last ten minutes will be very intense.”
Looking beyond the time trial, evenepoel has his sights set on further success at the European championships in the Ardèche – targeting both the road race and time trial – and the season-ending Il Lombardia. He acknowledged a challenging season thus far but remains enterprising.”Can I add more color to my season with titles? Not necessarily.It’s been a difficult season anyway… If I win two more of the four titles, my season will be even better.”
As the defending champion, Evenepoel will be the last rider to start the men’s elite individual time trial, with the race commencing at 13:45 local time (12:45 BST).
