Cycling | Evenepoel secures a World Cup record: four fingers for eternity

Remco Evenepoel won his fourth world title in a row in the individual time trial on Sunday in Montreal. Photo: imago/Jasper Jacobs Two races, two historic results: The Road Cycling World Championships in Montreal, Canada, made big headlines on its first day. Early on Sunday evening Central European time, Remco Evenepoel was crowned title holder in the individual time trial for the fourth time in a row. This meant that the Belgian even left the great specialists of the past behind. The Swiss Fabian Cancellara and the Thuringian Tony Martin also won the rainbow jersey four times in their careers, but not without interruptions.

A few hours earlier, Rhinelander Franziska Koch also achieved something with her bronze medal that hadn't happened for a long time. It has been eleven years since an individual medal for the German women. The last one, also bronze, was won by Lisa Brennauer in the USA in 2015. Tony Martin's last major success was ten years ago - a long dry spell for German cycling.

Koch finished this with a very courageous race from the start. Starting early, she initially set the fastest time at all three measuring points as well as at the finish. “Of course I hoped that something good would come around, but the fact that it was enough for bronze is very, very nice and I’m happy,” she said later at the finish to the “Cycling News” industry service.

Koch had memorized the changeable course well with a few tight corners at the beginning, then long straights in the middle section that didn't necessarily help with concentration, and a few waves in the finale. She watched the entire route video twice, which was filmed by the German cycling association German Cycling. And the evening before she did it the same way she once did at school: “In school, everyone looked at vocabulary again before they went to sleep. Basically it's the same, you have to know the course inside and out.«

So cramming curves instead of vocabulary helped. Thanks to her good knowledge of the route, Koch still had energy in her legs at the end. Standing on the pedals, she balanced her bike, swinging far left and right up the last climb to the finish. The 26-year-old is finally the newcomer of the season.

She won the Paris-Roubaix cobblestone classic back in the spring. With third place in the Strade Bianche and tenth place in the Tour of Flanders, she completed a remarkable classic phase. At the end of June she won the national championship titles in the road race and time trial. And a month later she helped her Dutch teammate at the FDJ Suez racing team, Demi Vollering, win the Tour de France Femmes.

Now in Canada, Koch struck again with third place behind the successful defending champion Marlen Reusser from Switzerland and the British Zoe Backstedt in silver. In this condition, she is also one of the extended favorites in the women's road race next Saturday. And for the team time trial this Tuesday, she should be the pretty strong engine of the German team.

While Koch still had to get out of the saddle to secure her medal, Remco Evenepoel achieved his historic victory in the men's race in an almost relaxed manner. The 26-year-old sat on his bike like a glove in the best aerodynamic position until he reached the finish line. Only then did he stand up and stretch out four fingers to point out his record. He then cheerfully got off his work equipment and strode towards the podium with such vigor as if he would like to drive the almost 40-kilometer route again.

He also quickly checked off the interview requirements. »It was a wonderful experience here. It was very fast and I was very happy with the feeling, especially in the corners," he said about his race. He confessed: “It was of course the goal to come here and win for the fourth time in a row.” He is now aiming for the road race on Sunday with the same determination. 

The Belgian knows very well how a double triumph works since his golden Olympic experience in the time trial and road race in Paris two years ago. And in the absence of Slovenian high-flyer Tadej Pogačar, Evenepoel is the top favorite. Incidentally, like the entire Belgian team, he is skipping the relay race on Tuesday. The individual disciplines obviously have priority. Since, in addition to the Belgian team, the traditionally strong Dutch team have also announced their withdrawal, the German chances of winning the next medal in the relay increase after Koch's triumph.

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