Remco Evenepoel has embarked on what he calls a two-week “championship block,” flying to Rwanda on Thursday to begin his world title defence in Sunday’s time trial at the UCI Road World Championships.
Speaking in an interview with Sporza before boarding his eight-hour flight from Zaventem alongside national coach Serge Pauwels and teammates Florian Vermeersch and Ilan Van Wilder, the Belgian said he is embracing the challenge ahead.
“We knew the travel plan well in advance, so we could adapt to it,” Evenepoel explained. “We can use today as a recovery day and then get in two good training days. Then it should be fine.”
Prepping in the heat for African world title bid
Following the Tour of Britain, the reigning world time trial champion spent 10 days training in Calpe to prepare for the heat in Rwanda. “I’ve been able to do everything perfectly that was needed,” he said. “It was a relaxed ten days. I trained well and came away with a good feeling. I’m ready to go.”
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Evenepoel sees the worlds in Africa as a unique opportunity. “It’s going to be an interesting experience,” he said. “I’m very curious what it will be like with the crowds and the course. I’m quite open-minded, so I’m not stressed about it. I like discovering new places, so that’s a nice bonus.”
On Pogačar
While Filippo Ganna is skipping the time trial, Tadej Pogačar will line up as one of the main threats to Evenepoel’s rainbow jersey. “And if Pogačar sets his mind on something, that’s a sign he’s ready for it,” Evenepoel said. “I look forward to the battle. Hopefully it won’t be a close battle, but he’s a nice extra challenger.”
The Belgian is also slated to race both the road race and time trial at the European Championships immediately after the Worlds. “It might happen that I have an off day, but I’ve prepared well enough to be ready for two weeks of competition,” he said. “I’ll just try to show the best of myself in every race — and hopefully come home with as many jerseys as possible.”
The course is quite hilly, and in the past, Pogi has had the upper hand on lumpy TTs. Still, the Belgian has dominated in chronos the past few years, and always peaked at the right time. It will certainly be a helluva battle between the Tour de France champion and double Olympic gold medallist. You can catch all the action on FloBikes.com from all the races in Rwanda, along with reports and photos on Canadian Cycling Magazine.