Remco Evenepoel supreme against the clock ahead of Jay Vine and Ilan Van Wilder, Tadej Pogačar experiences slump on his 27th birthday.
Gold medalist Remco Evenepoel (Belgium) celebrates victory in the time trial at the UCI Cycling Road World Championships in Kigali, Rwanda, September 21, 2025 (Photo: David Ramos/Getty Images)
Updated September 21, 2025 09:57AM
Remco Evenepoel showed he is back to his best after a tough summer with an astounding ride at the road world championships on Sunday, catching Tadej Pogačar for two and a half minutes and powering to his third consecutive TT gold medal.
The Belgian finished 1:14.8 clear of runner-up Jay Vine (Australia) in the 40.6km race in Kigali, Rwanda, with Ilan Van Wilder (Belgium) taking third. He was 2:36.07 behind.
Pogačar had a day to forget on what is his 27th birthday, with the Slovenian trailing in over two and a half minutes down and likely wondering if he will be able to bounce back in time for the road race next Sunday.
He may also ponder the wisdom of using the Canadian World Cup races as preparation for the TT worlds, rather than Evenepoel’s more focused approach.
A performance to remember
Remco Evenepoel was his usual aero self during the TT (Photo: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
The elite men’s TT was held on a slightly longer course than the women’s race earlier on Sunday. The two ascents of the Côte de Nyanza and the climb of the Côte de Kimihurura all featured again, but the men’s race also included the Côte de Peage.
Shemu Nsengiyumva (Rwanda) was the first starter and the first rider in the hot seat, with Florian Vermeersch (Belgium) then holding the lead for a long time.
His compatriot Ilan Van Wilder went faster than him in each of the checkpoints and ultimately raced in quickest, but out on the course others were lighting things up. Jay Vine (Australia) improved the Belgian’s time at checkpoints one, two and three, but his time at the top was brief; behind him, the battle between Pogačar and Evenepoel was spurring the latter on to a superlative performance.
Evenepoel was on fire, scorching through the first check 44.6 seconds quicker than Isaac del Toro (Mexico) and 45.48 up on Pogačar. He further extended that by checkpoint two, with his lead over Vine there 1:17. Pogačar appeared to have cracked, slumping to 1:42.76 back, and he continued to cede time.
He was down to fourth at the next time check, almost two minutes back, and he was caught by Evenepoel inside the final 2km of their effort. The latter continued on to his third successive victory, confirming his status as the best time trialist in the sport.