Evenepoel begins bid for Worlds history as time-trial favourite

Montreal, Canada, Sept 19, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Remco Evenepoel has one eye on history with reigning title-holder Tadej Pogacar absent from the World Championships, which begin in Montreal on Sunday.

The 26-year-old Belgian is the overwhelming favourite this weekend to win what would be a record fourth-consecutive time-trial rainbow jersey.

Only two other men -- Australia's Michael Rogers and German Tony Martin -- have won three-in-a-row before, while Martin and Swiss Fabian Cancellara are the only men to have won the discipline four times overall.

But Evenepoel, the double Olympic champion, has his eyes on an even greater prize -- he wants to be the first man to win both the road race and the time-trial at the same event.

Montreal hosts the championships for the second time, having been the first city outside of Europe to do so back in 1974, when Belgian great Eddy Merckx triumphed ahead of his French rival Raymond Poulidor, whose compatriot Mariano Martinez was third.

That was 20 years before the time-trial was added to the programme.

Evenepoel has said that winning both disciplines in the same year is a career goal, and he comes into the championships in fine form having won the GP de Quebec and then finished fifth at the GP de Montreal a week ago.

And that has come during a season in which he finished second to Pogacar at the Tour de France and won the Clasica San Sebastian and Amstel Gold Race.

"I'm looking forward to it. I think there are two great weeks ahead," he said last weekend.

"Things have started well, so I hope I can keep that momentum going." Pogacar was also missing when Evenepoel did the double at the Paris Games two years ago.

- Only one real challenger -

At least on Sunday, Evenepoel will be the clear favourite, with only Italian twice former champion Filippo Ganna expected to cause him any concerns.

But Ganna has not beaten Evenepoel in a time-trial since the 2023 Vuelta a Espana, losing the last five times that they have faced each other, including at the Olympics and Worlds in 2024, last year's European Championships, and this year's Tour.

Beyond that, there are a handful of hopefuls more for a podium finish than overall victory.

Amongst them are the two young dynamos, Frenchman Paul Seixas, who is still a teenager but will be 20 by the time of the road race in a week's time, and Isaac Del Toro.

The Mexican was third behind Evenepoel at the Tour with Seixas fourth, and also beat the Frenchman in a two-man sprint finish to win in Montreal after both had been a fair way behind the Belgian in Quebec.

After that, Swiss Stefan Kung comes into the race off a confidence-boosting time-trial win at the Vuelta, Swede Jakob Soderqvist is the reigning under-23 champion against the clock, and Norway's Tobias Foss is a former winner of this event.

In the women's race, reigning champion Marlen Reusser is expected to face a strong challenge from European road race champion Demi Vollering.

The Dutchwoman won the Tour de France Femmes and the Giro d'Italia Women this year and has been in excellent form in one-day races.

She won the Tour of Flanders, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and La Fleche Wallonne Femmes.

She has finished second and third in the time-trial at the Worlds in the last two years, so Swiss Reusser is on notice.

Briton Zoe Backstedt, 21, is another rider to keep an eye on.

She has three time-trial world titles in junior categories, including the under-23 crown last year.

The only thing that may count against her is the length of the time-trial, which at close to 40km is more than 12km beyond the longest race against the clock that she has done before.BSS