At just 19 years of age, the Belgian became the youngest ever male rider to claim a medal at the Elite World Championships, in any discipline.
Remco Evenepoel’s stellar season continued on Wednesday in the United Kingdom, where the current European Time Trial Champion rolled down the ramp for the demanding 54km-long ITT that gathered at the start the discipline’s crème de la crème. A debutant at the competition, Remco confirmed again his potential, as he put in a jaw-dropping performance which deservedly propelled him into the top 3 at the finish.
Riding the longest ever time trial since turning pro, Remco didn’t show any nerves as he took on the hilly course in Yorkshire, a flying ride seeing him record the fastest provisional time at the first checkpoint and set the early mark for an outstanding result. Not only that he bested the time of more experience riders, Evenepoel did it with panache and showed that he was in with a real shot at claiming a medal at the end of the day, which became complicated once rain made an appearance.
One year after taking gold in the junior race, the Belgian continued to impress and live up to the hype, averaging close to 48.9km/h, posting the reference at all splits and going straight into the hot seat at the finish with a time of 1:06:14, where he remained until his result was improved by defending champion Rohan Dennis (Australia). The silver medal captured on Wednesday was the most recent of an outstanding series of results which have put the Deceuninck – Quick-Step rider firmly into the spotlight in his first pro year.
“I knew the course was pretty technical and some corners were really tricky, but I felt very good on the new Specialized Shiv and I kept the power during the race, after starting a bit too fast. I think I did my job well and took what’s a nice silver medal. Finishing just behind the reigning champion isn’t a shame, so I can be really proud of what I did today. Being on the podium is a dream and I wouldn’t have imagined I could do this. I’m now looking forward to Sunday’s road race, where I hope to help my team as much as possible”, a happy Remco explained after netting Belgium’s best ever result in the ITT at the World Championships.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele/ Getty Images
Remco Evenepoel 
