Tomorrow the World Championship time trial will take place and the great favorite is undoubtedly Remco Evenepoel. The Belgian national team has assembled a competitive and cohesive group in Bromont, where the squad gathered in recent days ahead of the two world championship appointments: tomorrow's time trial and the road race on Sunday, September 27.

According to Belgian national team coach Serge Pauwels, Evenepoel's advantage lies in his completeness compared to other time trial specialists: "Any course suits him. His aerodynamics are exceptional on flat terrain, while his power-to-weight ratio is a fundamental strength when the road climbs".

Remco is in Canada with his trusted entourage: masseur David Geeroms, cousin mechanic Dario Kloeck, and his usual sports director Klaas Lodewyck. The latter will be in the team car on Sunday during the world championship time trial to provide him with race time information. Based on his preparation, Evenepoel has trained in Bromont alongside Tiesj Benoot, Maxim Van Gils, Alec Segaert, Quinten Hermans, and Rune Herregodts.

Pauwels has made numerous statements about both the time trial and the road race in recent days, explaining how they have prepared for this appointment and what they should expect once the race begins. For the team coach, what matters is achieving victory, without singling out just one rider for the road race. As for the time trial, he believes Evenepoel is the great favorite, but that compared to last year's world championship in Africa, his opponents will be different this time.

"What interests me is seeing a Belgian wearing the rainbow jersey on Sunday the 27th. As for the time trial, the competition will be very different compared to last year's race in Kigali. At the same distance as Rwanda, we're around 40 kilometers, there will be 500 meters less elevation gain. That's an enormous difference. This means that the Canadian course is suited to pure time trialists like Ganna or Küng, for example, whereas twelve months ago it was Pogacar who represented the main threat to Remco, on Sunday it will be different".

Regarding the road race, Pauwels has no doubts about the peaceful coexistence between Evenepoel and van Aert and knows that the team will support both without distinction.

"I don't want to build a strategy favoring one over the other. For this reason, we must make the best use of the qualities of our two aces and avoid at all costs them racing against each other. The strategy must be perfectly clear to everyone. I want things to be so natural for everyone in the Belgian group that radio communication becomes unnecessary. I've spoken individually with Wout and Remco to better understand their ideas; this has helped develop my thinking. On Monday, even though Wout, Thibau Nys, and Gianni Vermeersch will still be in Belgium, I will present our project for the first time in a video conference with all the riders, so that the plan, which is 90% defined, can already be understood by everyone. Wednesday and Thursday we'll take some time before dinner to discuss various specific scenarios".

Strategy will be important and everyone will have a clear understanding of their role in the race. "Once we enter the decisive phase, you need to be able to make a decision in a fraction of a second and ensure that riders like Tiesj Benoot or Gianni Vermeersch can react promptly. In those moments there's no time to come down from the team car and assess the situation. I want to empower the riders themselves in managing the race during this World Championship. But to do that it's essential that they are flexible and have real adaptability. And this is an aspect that needs to be prepared".

The World Championships are the most unpredictable race of the year and there are many scenarios that can present themselves. "Obviously in racing things never go exactly as planned. And that's precisely why you need to try to imagine as many race situations as possible in advance. I hope it doesn't happen, but a rider could crash, for example, in the first 100 kilometers. How do we decide to act in that case? How do we redistribute roles? My goal is that all riders have no doubts about what to do at any moment".

Evenepoel has already raced in Canada in recent days but decided to let his opponents manage the race and win, so he could have a clearer vision of what might happen on the 27th.

"The Montreal GP confirmed how demanding the circuit is. The race was very hard and exhausting, because it heated up well before the finish. Obviously this doesn't mean the scenario will be identical in the World Championship road race, but I don't expect to have to wait until the last two laps to see the first moves either. I've already said it: I'm convinced that the roughly hundred kilometers of relatively flat terrain to cover before entering the local circuits will change the cards compared to the World Tour classic we know. With twelve laps of the circuit instead of seventeen, a race contested by national teams and potentially different weather conditions, it will be a completely different story. Most likely it's a good thing that Remco didn't win in Montreal. That's exactly what Maxim Van Gils had suggested to him on Wednesday. This serves to keep everyone on their toes: it makes clear that winning that title won't be easy at all".

Belgium is the nation everyone wants to watch, because it's the great favorite, with two important riders like Van Aert and Evenepoel, but according to Serge Pauwels, other riders will have a chance to win.

"We are one of the favorite nations, that's for sure. But there will be other very strong countries, we shouldn't underestimate them. Seixas is in great form, van der Poel won on his return to racing at the Tour of Luxembourg, Del Toro is very strong. What sets us apart from other countries is that we'll have two winning cards: Remco and Wout. But we're ready to do our part. We know there will be points more suited to a Remco attack compared to a Wout attack, and vice versa. For this reason, it will be fundamental that our two leaders communicate well with each other".

While Evenepoel has been in Canada with five other riders for several days, Van Aert chose to arrive later.

"Wout decided to arrive in Canada next Tuesday, five days before the road race. It's a decision made directly by Wout, in agreement with the performance department of his team, Visma | Lease a Bike. Wout spent a lot of energy at the Vuelta and wanted to recover before doing a final training block at home, ahead of the Canadian trip. Once he arrives here, he'll still have time to view the Montreal circuit during the official reconnaissance on Wednesday; afterwards, we can study the road race course towards the end of the week".

Pauwels is clear: he doesn't want to favor one at the expense of the other and aims to make the best use of both their qualities while avoiding them hindering each other. He explained that, in the absence of radios, the strategy must be so clear and understood that direct communication with the team car becomes unnecessary; for this reason he has already spoken individually with Remco and Wout and will present the plan to the team via video conference before departure.

Remco Evenepoel starts as favorite in tomorrow's time trial, but Pauwels reminds us that the Canadian course also favors pure time trialists and that the simultaneous presence of Wout van Aert will give Belgium an extra card in the road race on September 27. The national team coach's objective is clear: "What interests me is seeing a Belgian wearing the rainbow jersey". It will be a decisive week for the Belgian National Team and for the many fans following the dream of the rainbow jersey.