Remco Evenepoel delivered a ruthless defence of his rainbow jersey in Kigali, powering to a third successive world time trial title with a display that never dipped below full gas. Over 40.6 km at altitude and across a course loaded with punchy climbs, the Belgian carved out a yawning 1:14 over Australia’s Jay Vine, while Ilan Van Wilder capped a dream Belgian day with bronze. Tadej Pogačar, two and a half minutes up the road on the start sheet, was dramatically caught on the final cobbled ramp and slipped to fourth.
This was not a day for feeling your way in. The men tackled four climbs at 1,450 metres, twice over the Côte de Nyanza, 2.5 km at 5.8 percent on the outward leg and 4.1 km at 3.1 percent on the return, then the Côte de Peage before the spectacular sting in the tail on the cobbled Côte de Kimihurura, 1.3 km at 6.3 percent, which also features in the road race circuits later in the week. Heat, thin air and Kigali’s rollercoaster profile rewarded measured aggression. Evenepoel turned it into a clinic.
From the first split the pattern was set. Pogačar was already ceding time, down on his trade teammates’ marks, while Evenepoel lit the boards by 44 seconds on Isaac Del Toro at the same check. Vine paced it to perfection, fourth at the opening split, then rising through the intermediates as the gradients stacked up and the altitude bit, committing to a negative split that ultimately banked silver.
The moment that defined the day came inside the final kilometre. As the TV motorbikes bounced up Kimihurura’s cobbles, Evenepoel swept past Pogačar, the Belgian cresting the climb with daylight behind him before the fast drag to the Convention Centre finish. By then the damage was long since done. Evenepoel stopped the clock, Vine rolled in for a richly earned second, and Van Wilder clung on for third by the slimmest of margins after a nervy wait as the timing screens flickered between him and Pogačar.
Photo Credit: GettyEvenepoel’s verdict was almost dispassionate, which told you everything about the control on display. “It was a really specific one because it is pushing all the time,” he said. “If I see my time gaps from start to finish, it is pretty good to say it was one of my best ones. The parcours, the heat, the altitude, all of that made it tough, but for a World Championships this was probably the best one. Catching Tadej was not the goal. I just wanted to go as fast as possible.”
Pogačar, on his 27th birthday, did not hide from the reality of being overhauled on the final climb. “Of course I am disappointed that Remco caught me, but it is incredible how good he is in this discipline,” he said. “It was a hard one to swallow. I have been enjoying the last few days here and I am looking forward to the road race. Now I need two more hard trainings and then I will be ready for Sunday.”
Vine called his silver “redemption” after finishing fifth last year, the Vuelta a España in his legs unexpectedly sharpening rather than blunting his edge. “I have been targeting this Worlds for 12 months,” he explained. “Altitude, heat, heavy climbing and aero climbing combined, that is perfect for me. I think I had my best TT today, but Remco was unbeatable. Even if I prepared specifically for this race, I do not think there was a minute fourteen in there.”
For Belgium, the double podium was a statement as much as a celebration. Van Wilder, third at 3:36, admitted to a jittery final as Evenepoel’s pass briefly offered Pogačar a slipstream on the climb. “It was one and a half seconds or something between me and Tadej,” he said. “Day and night difference for me. Luckily it fell my way.”
Attention now swings to the road race, but this was an emphatic marker. Evenepoel has the rainbow bands again, a hat-trick secured on one of the hardest World Championship tests in recent memory, with the numbers, the pictures and the manner of victory all pointing in the same direction. In Kigali, he was simply untouchable.
Photo Credit: Getty2025 World Championships Men’s Time Trial result
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