Fifty-two years after taking his third rainbow jersey on the same city’s roads, Eddy Merckx thinks Montreal can deliver again on Sunday.
The five-time Tour de France winner spoke to Belgian broadcaster RTBF on Wednesday, three days after Evenepoel had claimed the world time-trial title in the same city.
“I think we have a great chance of winning. When you see the way Remco Evenepoel became world time-trial champion last Sunday, and given we’ve also got Wout van Aert, that gives the Belgian team two real assets to start with,” he told RTBF.
“There is still plenty of competition with Del Toro, Seixas or Van der Poel. Not to mention all the ones you don’t see coming. But we’ve got a 50% chance of seeing a Belgian become world champion. That’s not bad at all.”
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Pogačar’s absence changes the arithmetic
The reigning world champion Tadej Pogačar will not defend the jersey. A crash on stage eight of the Vuelta a España on 30 August fractured the 27-year-old Slovenian’s collarbone, and surgery ended his 2026 season.
“There won’t be Pogačar. That’s certainly good news for us. If he were there, we would have been playing for second place,” Merckx said.
The double Evenepoel is chasing
Evenepoel arrives from the ride of his life. He covered the 39.2-kilometer time-trial course in 44 minutes 53.13 seconds, beating Filippo Ganna by 57 seconds and 19-year-old Paul Seixas by 1:13, taking a fourth consecutive elite men’s world time-trial title, a first for any rider.
The road race is a different challenge. Two weeks ago, on the same Mount Royal roads, Isaac del Toro of Mexico won the GP Cycliste de Montréal from a two-up sprint with Seixas, with Brandon McNulty third. Evenepoel was briefly distanced on the climb before returning to the group.
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Belgium’s tactical puzzle
Merckx sees the break as the trap. Belgium starts eight riders, with Evenepoel and Van Aert joined by Tiesj Benoot, Quinten Hermans, Thibau Nys, Alec Segaert, Maxim van Gils and Gianni Vermeersch.
“If a Belgian is up front, he probably shouldn’t work. But what if there is a favorite in that break, of the Van der Poel type? We’ll have to react at once. If we wait and the gap gets significant, we’ll struggle to come back,” he said.
Sunday in Montreal
The men’s elite road race leaves Quartier DIX30 in Brossard at 9am local time on Sunday, 27 September for 273.7 kilometers, 3,803 meters of climbing and 12 laps of the 13.4-kilometer Mount Royal circuit before the finish downtown.
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