The Belgians
Belgian riders wherever they race, the Belgian teams, the national championships and the black-yellow-red jersey at the Worlds: the national team of a country that only has one a few days a year, and has been waiting fifty years for the next Merckx.
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Van Aert checks in just before closing, Myriam classifies the time, not the man
On 22 September 2026, the Belgian squad flew from Brussels to Canada for the world championships. Wout van Aert checked in just before closing.
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Vierstraete took up cycling out of boredom at the roadside, Xavier gets it
Luca Vierstraete, 20, from Heule near Kortrijk, took bronze in the under-23 time trial at the World Championships in Montreal. It is Belgium’s second medal of these Worlds, after Remco Evenepoel’s.
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Evenepoel fastest at every time check, Myriam fills in her whole column
Remco Evenepoel won the world championship time trial in Montreal on 20 September 2026. It is his fourth consecutive world title in the discipline, a first in the history of the event.
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Kopecky lists the stop signs and traffic lights, and Xavier finally has his column
Before the World Championship time trial in Montreal, Lotte Kopecky had said training in Canada was no fun: stop signs, traffic lights, poor road surface. After riding the course, the Belgians came…
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Ganna led by four seconds in Glasgow, Myriam only notes the twelve at the line
Klaas Lodewyck has looked back, in Sporza, on Remco Evenepoel’s three world time trial titles. In Glasgow, in 2023, Filippo Ganna led by four seconds at the first intermediate check; Evenepoel won…
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Pauwels says one pick stayed “under the radar”, Sandrine hears it in the housing
In Belgium’s squad for the U23 World Championship, Bert Bolle and Viktor Soenens go as domestiques for the other four. Serge Pauwels explained his choices to DirectVelo.
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Willems wants a “luxury lieutenant” for Kopecky, and Rik knows that job
Naming his Belgian women’s squad for the World Championships in Montreal, Ludwig Willems said that if a good group goes clear, someone has to be in it “in a luxury lieutenant’s role”.…
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Two chairs for three Belgian time triallists, and Rik starts counting seats
At the start of the Belgian press conference, only two chairs had been set out for the country’s three time-trial specialists. Remco Evenepoel, world champion in the discipline, told the other two…
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Lefevere says the 2027 roster was locked too early, Xavier has the same space problem
In his column for Het Nieuwsblad, Patrick Lefevere criticises the squad-building policy at Soudal Quick-Step under his successor Jurgen Foré. He writes that a boss should never tie himself down this early,…
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Evenepoel runs an eight-to-nine-hour protocol, Xavier leaves at twenty past nine
A three-time world time trial champion, Remco Evenepoel goes for a fourth title on Sunday. His national selector Serge Pauwels describes the way he builds up to a time trial as an…
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A deer halts the Belgians’ course recon, and Myriam notes the order of events
On 17 September 2026, in Canada, the Belgians selected for the world championships rode the course together, around three hours at an average of 36 km/h. In the video Tiesj Benoot put…
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Wellens put his hand up after the Tour of Britain, Sandrine talks lead times
On the Sporza Daily + podcast, José De Cauwer revealed that Tim Wellens made an attempt of his own after winning the Tour of Britain on 6 September 2026, a “sort of…