Remco Evenepoel and Marlen Reusser win world time trial titles in Montreal

Evenepoel secures fourth consecutive world title

Remco Evenepoel secured a fourth consecutive men's individual time trial title on Sunday at the UCI Road World Championships in Montreal. The 26-year-old Belgian completed the 39.2-kilometre course in 44 minutes, 53.13 seconds, beating Italy's Filippo Ganna by 57.31 seconds. The victory established Evenepoel as the first rider in cycling history to win four consecutive world elite time trials, matching the career total of four titles shared by Fabian Cancellara and Tony Martin. Evenepoel had previously taken gold in Glasgow in 2023, Zurich in 2024, and Kigali in 2025. His Montreal ride marked his 27th career time trial victory in 50 professional starts, and his 12th victory in his last 13 races against the clock. After finishing, he credited his support team for the preparation.

“It's amazing. It was obviously the goal to come and win here for the fourth time in a row. It was a big motivation and I just have to thank the whole team around me again for the preparation.”

Podium battle and French medal milestone

Behind Ganna, 19-year-old Frenchman Paul Seixas claimed the bronze medal with a time of 46 minutes and six seconds, 1 minute, 13.04 seconds behind Evenepoel. Seixas, who rides for Decathlon CMA CGM, won the junior world time trial title in 2024 and placed fourth in his Tour de France debut earlier in the season. The result gave France its first senior men's world time trial medal since Jérôme Coppel took bronze in Richmond in 2015. Sweden's Jakob Söderqvist had set the fastest times at all intermediate checkpoints before crashing on a corner a few kilometres from the line. Although Söderqvist remounted quickly, he finished fifth, roughly ten seconds away from a medal. Seixas expressed satisfaction with his performance on the technical Montreal course.

“I didn't want to take too many risks. I feel in great shape and it's certainly a great source of pride to be up there with Evenepoel and Ganna on the podium.”

Fabian Cancellara4

Tony Martin4

Remco Evenepoel4

Fabian Cancellara

4 titles

Tony Martin

4 titles

Remco Evenepoel

4 titles

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Reusser retains women's time trial title

Switzerland's Marlen Reusser retained her rainbow jersey in the elite women's individual time trial, winning on her 35th birthday with a time of 50 minutes, 24.44 seconds. The 39.2-kilometre route traced the St. Lawrence River, crossed the Samuel De Champlain Bridge, traversed Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, and ended with an uphill finish in Old Montreal. Reusser paced her effort deliberately, sitting fifth at the first timing split before moving to within two seconds of the lead at the second check and surging into first place. Britain's Zoe Backstedt took silver, finishing 40.11 seconds behind Reusser, while Germany's Franziska Koch earned bronze, 45.54 seconds adrift. Tour de France champion Demi Vollering of the Netherlands finished eighth, 1 minute, 49.94 seconds behind. Reusser acknowledged pre-race anxiety regarding the challenging profile.

“On the one hand, I was looking forward to it because it has so many challenges and technical aspects. But from the side of pacing, how fast you should go, to cope with the challenges, I was really nervous.”

Road race finale on Sunday

Reusser's Montreal victory was her 12th win in her last 13 time trials, following her 2025 world title in Kigali. The world championships in Canada will conclude on Sunday with the 273.7-kilometre elite men's road race. Evenepoel and Wout Van Aert will lead the Belgian national team, with Evenepoel aiming to replicate his 2024 Paris Olympic double of road race and time trial victories. Seixas also confirmed plans to compete in Sunday's road race for France following his podium performance.