The elite men’s individual time trial takes place on Sunday 20 September at the 2026 UCI Road World Championships in Montréal, with Remco Evenepoel attempting to become the first man to win four consecutive world titles against the clock.
The latest field contains 61 riders representing 40 countries. Evenepoel is joined by Filippo Ganna, Stefan Küng, Tobias Foss, Mathias Vacek, Brandon McNulty, Ethan Hayter and Callum Thornley among the strongest time trial specialists on the start list, while Belgium have three places through Evenepoel, Alec Segaert and Rune Herregodts.
The men race over 39.2km with 220 metres of climbing, using exactly the same course as the elite women earlier in the day. ProCyclingUK’s 2026 UCI Road World Championships course guide covers the route in detail, including the fast section around Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve and the return towards Parc Jeanne-Mance. A full race preview of the men’s time trial can be found here.
Men’s World Championships time trial 2026 race details
Date: Sunday 20 September 2026
Start: Avenue du Parc, Montréal
Finish: Parc Jeanne-Mance, Montréal
Distance: 39.2km
Elevation gain: 220 metres
Race start: 12:45 local / 17:45 BST
Defending champion: Remco Evenepoel
The course is considerably flatter than the one Evenepoel dominated in Kigali last year. Rather than repeatedly climbing around Mount Royal, the riders head towards the St Lawrence River and Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve before returning towards the finish.
That should increase the importance of sustained aerodynamic power and gives riders such as Ganna and Küng a more suitable test than they faced at the 2025 World Championships.
UK viewers can find the complete schedule and broadcast information in ProCyclingUK’s guide to watching the 2026 UCI Road World Championships.
Photo Credit: GettyFull men’s World Championships time trial 2026 start list
| Nation | Rider |
|---|---|
| Australia | Conor Leahy |
| Belgium | Remco Evenepoel |
| Belgium | Alec Segaert |
| Belgium | Rune Herregodts |
| Belize | Derek Horton |
| Bermuda | Nicholas Narraway |
| Bermuda | Kaden Hopkins |
| Brazil | Vinicius Rangel |
| Canada | Derek Gee-West |
| Canada | Michael Leonard |
| Cayman Islands | Christopher Bodden |
| China | Chenglu Liu |
| China | Haoming Cao |
| Colombia | Brandon Smith Rivera |
| Colombia | Walter Vargas |
| Czech Republic | Mathias Vacek |
| Denmark | Mikkel Bjerg |
| Denmark | Kasper Asgreen |
| Estonia | Madis Mihkels |
| France | Paul Seixas |
| France | Bruno Armirail |
| Germany | Jasha Sütterlin |
| Germany | Max Walscheid |
| Great Britain | Callum Thornley |
| Great Britain | Ethan Hayter |
| Guinea-Bissau | Djassi Da Costa |
| Guinea-Bissau | Calisto da Silva |
| Honduras | Fredd Matute |
| Hungary | Barnabás Peák |
| Hungary | Erik Fetter |
| Ireland | Ryan Mullen |
| Italy | Filippo Ganna |
| Italy | Mattia Cattaneo |
| Japan | Yuki Ishibashi |
| Jordan | Majed Abu Hammad |
| Kazakhstan | Anton Kuzmin |
| Kazakhstan | Daniil Marukhin |
| Luxembourg | Arthur Kluckers |
| Mauritius | Alexandre Mayer |
| Mexico | Edgar David Cadena |
| Mexico | Isaac del Toro |
| Mongolia | Maral-Erdene Batmunkh |
| Netherlands | Daan Hoole |
| Norway | Tobias Foss |
| Norway | Andreas Leknessund |
| Poland | Michał Kwiatkowski |
| Portugal | Ivo Oliveira |
| Portugal | Nelson Oliveira |
| Rwanda | Samuel Niyonkuru |
| Rwanda | Renus Byiza Uhiriwe |
| Serbia | Ognjen Ilić |
| Slovenia | Anže Ravbar |
| South Africa | Byron Munton |
| Spain | Pablo Castrillo |
| Spain | Iván Romeo |
| Sweden | Jakob Söderqvist |
| Switzerland | Stefan Bissegger |
| Switzerland | Stefan Küng |
| Ukraine | Vitaliy Hryniv |
| United States | Ártem Schmidt |
| United States | Brandon McNulty |
Photo Credit: GettyBelgium bring three riders around defending champion Evenepoel
Belgium have the largest representation among the leading nations, with Evenepoel joined by Segaert and Herregodts.
Evenepoel has won this event in each of the last three seasons, taking his first elite time trial rainbow jersey in Stirling in 2023 before defending it in Zürich and Kigali. Victory in Montréal would make him the first elite man to win four consecutive World Championships individual time trials.
Segaert gives Belgium another established specialist, while Herregodts adds a third rider capable of producing a strong result over a fast course.
Evenepoel has already shown his form in Canada by winning GP Québec before finishing fifth at GP Montréal. The road races used very different terrain, but his performances removed much of the uncertainty surrounding his condition ahead of Worlds.
Ganna leads Italy’s challenge
Filippo Ganna and Mattia Cattaneo represent Italy.
Ganna is the most obvious threat to Evenepoel on a course containing only 220 metres of climbing. He has already produced an outstanding long time trial this season, winning the 42km Giro d’Italia test from Viareggio to Massa by almost two minutes.
That distance is particularly relevant to Montréal. Sunday’s 39.2km course should require a similarly prolonged effort, while the relatively flat profile allows Ganna to spend much of the race using the sustained power that has made him a two-time world champion in the discipline.
Cattaneo gives Italy a second experienced starter and has built much of his career around strong performances against the clock and in week-long stage races.
Photo Credit: GettyGreat Britain select Thornley and Hayter
Great Britain will be represented by Callum Thornley and Ethan Hayter.
Thornley arrives directly from the Vuelta a España, where he finished second to Küng in the 32.1km Stage 18 time trial at Jerez de la Frontera. Only three seconds separated them, giving Thornley one of the strongest immediate form references among the Montréal field.
Hayter is the reigning British time trial champion and won the national title over 38.4km in June. That distance is almost identical to Sunday’s World Championships course and should leave few questions about his ability to manage the length of the effort.
Their wider place in the national squad is covered in ProCyclingUK’s Great Britain at the 2026 World Championships preview.
Joshua Tarling is not part of the British time trial selection.
Küng and Bissegger give Switzerland two experienced specialists
Switzerland bring Stefan Küng and Stefan Bissegger.
Küng arrives after winning the Vuelta time trial in Jerez, making him one of the few riders on the start list to have produced a major victory against the clock immediately before the World Championships.
He has also repeatedly gone close at this event, including taking silver behind Foss in Wollongong in 2022.
Bissegger gives Switzerland another rider whose best characteristics fit the course. He is particularly effective when a time trial allows long periods in an aerodynamic position without substantial climbing interrupting the rhythm.
Photo Credit: Cor VosFoss returns as a former world champion
Tobias Foss and Andreas Leknessund form the Norwegian pair.
Foss won the rainbow jersey in Wollongong in 2022, producing one of the biggest World Championships time trial surprises of recent years ahead of Küng and Evenepoel.
He has remained competitive against the clock since then and arrives in Montréal as Norwegian champion.
The course is very different from the one where he won four years ago, but the length makes pacing particularly important. Foss has already shown that he can produce his best effort in a one-day championship rather than simply relying on stage-race results.
Vacek, McNulty and Hoole strengthen the group behind the main contenders
Mathias Vacek is the Czech Republic’s sole entrant and has useful evidence over an even longer distance. He won the 48.1km Czech national championship in June, showing that almost 40km of racing should not create an endurance problem.
Brandon McNulty represents the United States alongside Ártem Schmidt. McNulty arrives in strong broader form after finishing third at GP Montréal on the Mount Royal circuit one week before Worlds.
The Netherlands have one rider in Daan Hoole. The relatively low climbing total should suit him considerably better than many championship courses, giving the Dutchman a clear opportunity to use his absolute power.
Jakob Söderqvist steps into the elite championship for Sweden after winning the under-23 world time trial title in Kigali last year. Paul Seixas rides for France alongside Bruno Armirail, while Isaac del Toro and Edgar David Cadena make up Mexico’s two-rider entry.
For a wider look at how the championships fit together, ProCyclingUK’s beginner’s guide to the 2026 UCI Road World Championships covers all 13 title events across the eight days in Montréal.
When will the men’s World Championships time trial start order be confirmed?
The current entry list establishes the expected field, but the final individual departure times have not yet been published.
Once the running order is confirmed, each rider will have a specific start time and start number. The later starters will have the advantage of receiving intermediate information from riders already on the course, with Evenepoel expected to be among the final names to leave the start ramp as defending champion.
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Photo Credit: Getty
The first rider is scheduled to begin at 12:45 local time, or 17:45 BST, on Sunday 20 September.
