Evenepoel seals historic fourth title
Remco Evenepoel secured a record fourth successive world time-trial championship in Montreal on September 20, the 26-year-old Belgian finishing almost a full minute ahead of Italy's Filippo Ganna. France's Paul Seixas took third, a further 15 seconds adrift. Evenepoel had already built a lead of more than 30 seconds by the second intermediate check, roughly halfway through the course, and continued to extend his advantage all the way to the line.[S1]
The victory makes Evenepoel the first man to claim the time-trial world title four years in a row, and it draws him level with Germany's Tony Martin and Switzerland's Fabian Cancellara on the all-time list of overall titles. Already an Olympic champion in both the time trial and the road race, Evenepoel has not lost a race against the clock since the 2025 Tour de France. His 2025 season has also brought wins at the Amstel Gold Race, Clasica San Sebastian and Grand Prix de Quebec, plus second place behind Tadej Pogacar at the Tour de France.[S1]
Evenepoel described the win as amazing and said the goal had been to come and win for a fourth time in a row, calling it a big motivation and a wonderful experience. He will now turn his attention to the road race next Sunday, where he aims to become the first man to complete the double in the same year. He said there was time to rest and enjoy the special course before switching full focus on Tuesday. Ganna, who started slowly and was only tenth at the first check, recovered to second by the third but could not close the gap. Sweden's Jakob Soderqvist, the under-23 champion last year, was second at the first two checks but faded over the final 10km to finish fifth, while teenage French rider Seixas paced his effort better and took third.[S1]
Reusser defends women's title on birthday
In the women's race, Switzerland's Marlen Reusser retained her world time-trial title on her 35th birthday, finishing 40 seconds ahead of Britain's Zoe Backstedt. Germany's Franziska Koch took bronze, another six seconds back, while European road race champion Demi Vollering of the Netherlands could only manage eighth. Backstedt, 21, had been fastest at the first two intermediate checks on the 39.2km course, but Reusser powered away in the second half to secure a comfortable win.[S1]
Reusser, a four-time European champion who has also won time-trial stages at the Tour de France Femmes and Giro d'Italia Women, has been virtually unbeatable against the clock in recent years. She admitted the unusually long distance for a women's time trial made her nervous and unsure about pacing, saying she was not 100 percent certain until an hour before the race and even during it. Backstedt, a former junior and twice under-23 world champion in the discipline, was racing a time trial around 12km longer than any she had previously contested. Koch's bronze added to a dream season that already included victory at Paris-Roubaix in April.[S1]
