Remco Evenepoel is without a single doubt the most successful time trialist in the current peloton but is he the best in history? That is a discussion that hasn’t been brought up as much as Tadej Pogacar’s credentials in the road races, but one worth a thought according to a Belgian pundit who sees him close or matching Fabian Cancellara already.

“It’s only a matter of time before Remco Evenepoel can call himself the best time trial rider ever. The fact that he was able to win this European Championship, despite a busy schedule and a long flight, proves the difference compared to other specialists like Filippo Ganna and Joshua Tarling,” Guy Van Den Langenbergh wrote for Het Nieuwsblad. 

The 25-year old is the reigning Olympic time-trial champion, now a three-time consecutive winner of the rainbow jersey, and a two-time winner of the European title. Furthermore he has won time-trials in all Grand Tours and at this point in his career he is virtually unbeatable. When adding the Grand Tour, monument and stage-race victories Evenepoel has, his palmarès is already one of the best in modern history without a doubt.

But purely in a time-trial perspective, he is perhaps matched by Fabian Cancellara who is the winner of four world titles, two Olympic titles and much more – although no European titles as they only began being attributed in 2016. “The only advantage Cancellara still has is the two Olympic titles he collected in this discipline, compared to one for Evenepoel. Our compatriot is already eager to level the playing field in Los Angeles [Olympic Games] in three years.”

Unlike Pogacar, it can’t be argued that Evenepoel is ‘better than Merckx’

Evenepoel could on paper become, without a shadow of a doubt, the best time-trialist in history if he continues to perform the way he is currently doing, and that is not an unreasonable scenario. His time-trial ambitions don’t come in the way of his Grand Tour goals, and with only 25 years of age he still has space to conquer many more titles.  

“This observation isn’t chauvinistic overconfidence; it’s rather an almost mathematical certainty. Without physical setbacks, Remco Evenepoel will continue to dominate the individual time trials in the coming years,” the Belgian pundit argues.

“Fortunately, we can’t make the comparison with Eddy Merckx. The World Time Trial Championships only appeared on the calendar long after Merckx had put his bike away.”