Winner of the Tour de Pologne Remco Evenepoel crowned World Champion in the individual time trial!

Belgian rider Remco Evenepoel has claimed his third consecutive world title in the individual time trial. This time, the Soudal Quick-Step cyclist triumphed on a demanding course in Kigali, Rwanda. The 25-year-old already has a rich palmarès, including overall victory at the Tour de Pologne UCI WorldTour, where he won the yellow jersey in 2020.

The men’s and women’s elite time trials opened the UCI Road World Championships, which this year are taking place in Rwanda. The women competed first on Sunday, with Switzerland’s Marlen Reusser proving strongest, finishing ahead of the Dutch duo Anna van der Breggen and Demi Vollering. Katarzyna Niewiadoma, the only Polish rider in the event, placed 14th.

In the afternoon, the men tackled a challenging 40-kilometre course packed with climbs. Experts had predicted a close battle between Remco Evenepoel (Belgium) and Tadej Pogačar (Slovenia), but there was only one king of the time trial. The Belgian — a former overall winner of the Tour de Pologne UCI WorldTour — was untouchable, taking his third straight gold medal in this discipline. By doing so, the Soudal Quick-Step rider matched the achievement of Michael Rogers and Tony Martin. “I had a really good day and I hope I can keep this until next week. It’s a big honour for me to step up next to Tony and Michael. I guess next year I have to go for another one, because I want to be the first to get four in a row!” Evenepoel said after the race.

In Kigali, Evenepoel beat Australia’s Jay Vine by 1 minute 14 seconds, while his compatriot Ilan Van Wilder took third, 2 minutes 36 seconds back — just one second ahead of fourth-placed Pogačar.

The elite road races for the world titles will be held on Saturday (women) and Sunday (men).