Remco Evenepoel targets road race rainbow jersey at World Championships after time trial win - ‘I'm pretty confident'

Published 23/09/2024 at 18:51 GMT

Remco Evenepoel insists that he has some improvements to make if he is to claim a time trial and road race double at the UCI Road World Championships in Zurich. The Belgian rider claimed a first rainbow jersey in Switzerland in the time trial to follow up his Olympic gold at Paris 2024, and he is aiming for a maiden 'double double' - holding all four Olympic and world titles at once.

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Remco Evenepoel says that he still needs to improve if he is to follow up his time trial rainbow jersey with another in the road race at the UCI Road World Championships.

The Belgian claimed the time trial title in 53:01.98 in Zurich, Switzerland, ahead of the Italians Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) and Edoardo Affini (Visma–Lease a Bike).

It came after his remarkable double Olympic gold in both disciplines at Paris 2024, where he won the time trial event in 36:12:16, again ahead of Ganna, who won silver, while his compatriot Wout van Aert claimed bronze.

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In the road race, Evenepoel survived a late tyre puncture to beat home favourites Valentin Madouas and Christophe Laporte, one minute and 11 seconds ahead of Madouas in second, to become the first man to win both road cycling events at the Games.

He arrived in Zurich two months on, aiming to become the first man to complete a 'double double' - holding both Olympic and world road titles simultaneously.

Evenepoel had to deal with a dropped chain as he prepared to cross the start line, putting it back in place just 25 seconds before he was scheduled to begin his race.

Another disaster struck shortly after, with his power meter showing no display and no pace, leaving the Belgian to pace himself blindly - but it did not stop him taking first place.

There is now a one-week break between the time trial and road race, giving Evenepoel ample time to recover and then train for a couple of days for some last-minute preparation.

"I will have to recover well in the next two days, and then I’ll have two good training [sessions] on Wednesday and Thursday," Evenepoel said after the time trial. "Then it’s going to be recovery for Sunday."

Evenepoel landed in Zurich with all of his country's hopes on his shoulders, thanks to Van Aert's absence after a serious knee injury sustained at the Vuelta a Espana ruled him out for the remainder of the season.

However, the 2022 world road race champion made light work of any pressure he may have felt with time trial glory in Switzerland.

Evenepoel wins time trial in Zurich

"[The time trial rainbow jersey] takes away a bit of pressure, let’s say," Evenepoel continued.

"Winning this jersey again is going to allow me to live a little bit more relaxed towards next Sunday. I’m pretty confident. My legs are there, that’s clear.

"I can still improve a bit towards next Sunday, like I did in the Olympics as well. I’ll just try to live next week as relaxed as possible and in a good way, trying to take care of my body, and then everything should be fine. I should hopefully be ready for a good performance again next Sunday."

The men's race begins in Winterthur, with the course 273.9km in length, and Evenepoel will be keen to win back the title that he claimed in Wollongong two years ago and usurp Mathieu van der Poel.

Tadej Pogacar of Slovenia will take to the start line on Sunday as the overwhelming favourite to cap a stellar year, in which he won the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France, with a world title.

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