"There might be an off day": Evenepoel in good shape and ready to battle UAE duo in Worlds time trial

On Thursday morning, Evenepoel arrived at Brussels Airport in Zaventem, flying to Rwanda alongside fellow time trialists Ilan van Wilder, Florian Vermeersch, and Marthe Goossens. It's a flight of over eight hours. “What do I have in my backpack? Extra socks, shorts for comfort, my iPad, headphones, and a sleep mask to get a nap in. Enough to keep me busy,” said the Belgian.

Once he arrives on Thursday evening, there will be less than three days left before the time trial. “But that won’t be a problem. I’ll treat it as a recovery day and then have two solid training days, so it should be fine. We knew the travel schedule in advance, so we’ve adjusted accordingly.”

The Belgian is arriving straight from a training camp in Spain. “I was able to do everything I wanted to do there. It was a relaxing ten-day block, and I came out of it feeling good,” he said, looking ahead to Sunday’s time trial.

He won’t have it easy, though, with riders like Tadej Pogacar also on the start list. “Do I expect a lot of competition on Sunday? Yes. If someone like Pogacar is targeting this, he’ll be ready,” Evenepoel acknowledged. “I’m looking forward to the battle.”

Still, the Belgian would prefer it not to come down to a matter of seconds. “Hopefully it won’t be a close battle. But it’s definitely a strong challenger who’s joined the mix,” he said, referring to Pogacar. “And there are other names too, like Jay Vine, who’s in form. It’s up to me to defend my jersey.”

The decision to host the Worlds in Rwanda has been heavily discussed, mainly due to political tensions in the country. But Evenepoel doesn’t seem too concerned. “It will be a unique experience. I’m curious about the crowd and the course. I’m pretty open-minded about things, so I’m not focused on any particular issues. I’m looking forward to it.”

“When will I come home satisfied? Well, there’s still the European Championships after this, right?” the Belgian laughed. “But mainly, I just want to show the best of myself in every race and come back with as many jerseys as possible. Can I be in top form four times? (Evenepoel is competing in both the road race and time trial at the World and European Championships, ed.) I think so.”

However, he caveats that statement. “It’s possible that there’s an off day in between. I’ve prepared well to be ready for two weeks of competition. I also won’t be training too much in between, of course, to be able to start each race as fresh as possible. The plan is well structured to make sure I’m in good enough shape each time,” the Belgian concluded, before later boarding his flight.