Remco Evenepoel has become the first man to win four consecutive elite individual time trial titles at the UCI Road World Championships, extending his run from Stirling in 2023 through Zürich, Kigali and now Montréal.
The distinction matters. Evenepoel is not the first man to win four elite World Championships time trial titles overall. Fabian Cancellara and Tony Martin had already reached that total. His victory in Montréal puts him level with both as the joint record-holder on four wins, but Evenepoel is the first to collect all four without interruption.
His latest title was also one of the clearest victories of the sequence. Evenepoel completed the 39.2km Montréal course in 44:53.13, beating Filippo Ganna by 57.31 seconds, with 19-year-old Paul Seixas taking bronze at 1:13. The full race is covered in ProCyclingUK’s 2026 World Championships time trial report.
Four World Championships, four different tests
Evenepoel’s run began in Stirling in 2023, when he beat Ganna by 12 seconds over 47.8km to take his first elite time trial rainbow jersey.
He retained it in Zürich a year later, again with Ganna second. That race was much closer, with only six seconds separating them after 46.1km. Evenepoel had also started his ride without a functioning power meter after a mechanical problem shortly before the start, forcing him to pace much of the effort by feel. ProCyclingUK’s 2024 World Championships time trial report covers that second victory.
Kigali in 2025 was completely different.
The 40.6km course contained around 680 metres of climbing, altitude and repeated changes in gradient. Rather than exposing a weakness away from flatter time trials, it produced one of Evenepoel’s largest winning margins. He finished 1:14 ahead of Jay Vine and caught Tadej Pogačar on the road despite the Slovenian starting two and a half minutes earlier.
That third successive victory put Evenepoel level with Michael Rogers and Tony Martin for the longest winning sequence in the elite men’s event. The 2025 race in Kigali left Montréal as the chance to move beyond them.
He took it convincingly.
Photo Credit: GettyEvenepoel was fastest from the first checkpoint in Montréal
The flatter Montréal course had appeared to offer Ganna a particularly good opportunity to stop the sequence.
There were only 220 metres of elevation gain across 39.2km, with long periods where riders could stay in the aerodynamic position and hold speed. That looked much closer to Ganna’s ideal time trial than the climbing-heavy course used in Rwanda.
The men’s World Championships time trial preview therefore centred on whether Ganna, Stefan Küng or one of the other major specialists could make use of the faster route.
Evenepoel started removing that possibility almost immediately.
He reached the first intermediate check in 12:17.63, already nine seconds quicker than the next-fastest rider at that point. Ganna was around 22 seconds behind.
By the second checkpoint the gap had opened substantially, and at 29.8km Evenepoel had reached 33:49.87 with Ganna 48 seconds slower.
The Italian finished strongly enough to take silver, but there was no genuine contest for the title by then. Evenepoel crossed the line almost a minute faster.
The first man to win four in succession
The elite men’s individual time trial has been part of the World Championships since 1994, when Chris Boardman won the inaugural title.
Several riders have subsequently dominated periods of the event, but nobody before Evenepoel had won four consecutive editions.
Michael Rogers became the first to win three straight, taking the titles in 2003, 2004 and 2005.
Tony Martin matched him from 2011 through 2013. Martin eventually reached four career victories when he won again in Doha in 2016, but Vasil Kiryienka’s 2015 title had broken the sequence.
Cancellara never reached three in succession despite winning four times. His victories came in 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2010, with Bert Grabsch taking the rainbow jersey between his two pairs of wins.
Evenepoel’s record now stands alone.
| Rider | Elite men’s TT titles | Winning years |
|---|---|---|
| Remco Evenepoel | 4 | 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026 |
| Fabian Cancellara | 4 | 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010 |
| Tony Martin | 4 | 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016 |
| Michael Rogers | 3 | 2003, 2004, 2005 |
The sequence is also notable for the range of courses on which it has been achieved. Stirling finished with the climb towards Stirling Castle, Zürich mixed faster sections with more varied terrain, Kigali was one of the hardest World Championships time trials of recent years and Montréal was a much purer test of sustained speed.
Evenepoel has won on all four.
Four titles have come before his 27th birthday
Evenepoel has reached the joint all-time record while still only 26.
His World Championships time trial record was already substantial before the winning run began. He took silver behind Rohan Dennis as a 19-year-old in Yorkshire in 2019, then added bronze medals in 2021 and 2022.
Since 2023, nobody has beaten him at an elite World Championships time trial.
That consistency has come alongside Olympic success. Evenepoel won the Olympic time trial in Paris in 2024 before going on to win the road race as well, making him the first male rider to complete the two road cycling events at the same Olympic Games.
The rainbow jersey against the clock has nevertheless become the most sustained run of his career.
Ganna came within 12 seconds in 2023 and six in 2024. Kigali opened the gap dramatically. Montréal, on a course which appeared better suited to the Italian, produced another margin approaching a minute.
One more title would put Evenepoel clear of Cancellara and Martin
The next record is straightforward.
Evenepoel, Cancellara and Martin now share the highest number of elite men’s individual time trial world titles with four each.
A fifth victory would make Evenepoel the outright record-holder as well as extending a consecutive winning sequence which already belongs to him alone.
That possibility is for 2027. What Montréal settled was the question hanging over this year’s championship.
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Photo Credit: Cor Vos
Evenepoel arrived in Canada level with Rogers and Martin on three successive victories and one title short of the overall record held by Cancellara and Martin.
He leaves Montréal as the first man to win four World Championships time trials in a row, and as a joint four-time record-holder overall.
