Virtually invincible in the solo exercise for two years, the Belgian became the first runner in history to win the Olympic and world time trial titles in the same year, a feat also achieved three hours earlier by the Australian Grace Brown in the women’s event.
On a 46.1 km course that suited him perfectly, he beat two Italians by 6 and 54 seconds respectively: Filippo Ganna, already second at the Paris Olympics, and the surprising Edoardo Affini who proved superior to favourites such as the Briton Josh Tarling (4th) or the Thurgau native Stefan Küng (8th). “It’s crazy, I got back into shape just in time,” commented Evenepoel who managed to remobilise after his fantastic double this summer at the Paris Olympics, in the time trial and the road race.
But it wasn’t all that easy. The 24-year-old Flemish prodigy even called his time trial “the most complicated of (his) life” after he had a big scare in the starting gate when he dropped his chain a few seconds before the countdown. While his team had already brought him a spare bike, he finally managed to set off on time on his planned start machine, painted gold, and take the lead from the first intermediate time.
But that was not all. Deprived of a power sensor, broken down, he had to do the entire course without this tool that has become indispensable to the modern cyclist and which allows him, especially in a time trial, to follow a performance plan established in advance.
“My chain fell off a minute before the start and the power meter wasn’t working. I had to go by feel. It was difficult to keep the right pace because I was going a bit blindly,” commented the Belgian, who gained up to 19 seconds at the second intermediate time before faltering slightly towards the end.
“I struggled in the last two or three kilometres. But in a championship you don’t care about the gaps. In the end it was another good day,” stressed the Belgian who raised both arms, a rare gesture in a time trial, as he crossed the line before falling into his wife’s arms.
With this new rainbow jersey, the Soudal-Quick Step prodigy continues to fill his trophy cabinet during a season that also saw him take third place in the Tour de France. He can still push the limits next Sunday during the road race in which he will be one of the main favorites with Tadej Pogacar.
The two Swiss at the start, however, had a complicated afternoon in Zurich. Stefan Küng, who was dreaming of a gold medal at home, had to settle for 8th place, 1’48” behind Evenepoel. As for Stefan Bissegger, he finished 29th, 4’04” behind the world champion, despite a good start to the race.
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