I do not come here to pity Remco Evenepoel.
Yes, were it not for Tadej Pogačar's ridiculous dominance of men's road racing, Evenepoel might be the standout star of the sport. He might be the reigning Olympic, World, and European champion in both the road race and time trial. And he might have a couple more Monuments in his trophy case, including last Saturday's Il Lombardia.
Kit Nicholson
But Evenepoel does not lack for success in road racing and if he's not the sport's biggest star, he's certainly in its top five. He's paid handsomely enough that when he retires he'll never have to work again unless there's criminally negligent mismanagement of his money. And with his impending move to Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe he'll finally have the athletic and sports science support he's always wanted. If that increases the pressure on him, well, he literally asked for it.
So shed no tears for the Belgian superstar. But do spare a moment to think about the insoluble difficulty of being a really, really, really good – even great – men's road bike racer in the era of a rider who is just 13 months older and is the most transcendent talent seen in the sport in more than half a century. Raymond Poulidor was beloved by the public, but you don't think he would've traded the adoration he got for being "the eternal second" for one of Eddy Merckx's yellow jerseys?
Credit to Evenepoel for not giving up, of course. But if at this point in his career he hasn't unlocked a way to beat Pogačar on the road – which no one reliably has now for two seasons – it's not likely to happen anytime soon. Fortunately for Evenepoel, there is still a way for him to write himself into the sport's history books as one of the best of all time, maybe the best. And that way leads to the velodrome, not a mass-start race.
Simply put, a (successful) attempt at the Hour Record would cement Evenepoel's status as one of the three – maybe four – best men's time trialists in the history of the sport. And given his results in time trials so far in his career, with an Hour mark in the pocket and his continued ability to win at the highest level for years to come, he would have a legitimate shot at being the best ever, period.
The path to be the best in history
Does that seem like hyperbole for a rider who's just 26? Let's look at the competition, with a filter of Olympic and World time trial titles, Grand Tour TT stage wins, and Hour Records. That narrows it down quickly. There are just a few riders who can claim wins in three of these categories, and just two have marks in all four. The admittedly subjective hierarchy I'm using is Hour > Worlds > Olympics > GT stages. Several of these riders have Olympic gold medals in track racing, but those are all much shorter events, so for the purposes of this argument the only track event I'm considering is the Hour.
| Name | Hour Records | World Championships | Olympic Gold | Grand Tour TT stage wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miguel Indurain | 1x | 1x | 1x | 14x |
| Bradley Wiggins | 1x | 1x | 1x | 3x |
| Chris Boardman | 3x (#) | 1x | 2x | |
| Filippo Ganna | 1x (*) | 3x | 7x | |
| Rohan Dennis | 1x | 2x | 4x | |
| Fabian Cancellara | 4x | 2x | 7x | |
| Remco Evenepoel | 3x | 1x | 5x |
For contrast, Tony Martin, widely considered one of the best specialists of the modern era, won 50 time trials in his career. He has one more rainbow jersey than Evenepoel, but a best Olympic finish of second place, and somehow managed just five Grand Tour TT stage wins in a 13-year career, a mark Evenepoel has already equalled. That Martin isn't in this group shows you how elite it is.
You'll notice this list is entirely modern-era competitors. That's because the World Time Trial Championships was only first held in 1994, and the Olympics didn't have a time trial event until 1996.
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