Remco Evenepoel's bid to become the first-ever rider to secure the Road World Championships elite men's time trial and road race in a single year hit extremely choppy waters after the Belgian was first dropped on the ultra-steep Côte de Kigali by arch-rival Tadej Pogačar, and then needed two bike changes.
The multiple World Time Trial Champion and 2022 Road Race Champion first setback came as he was dropped when 2024 winner Pogačar attacked on the Kigali ascent, and only Juan Ayuso (Spain) and Isaac del Toro (Mexico) could follow.
Whilst Del Toro and Pogačar then went clear alone, and Evenepoel found himself in a third group, Belgium's furious initial pursuit came badly unstuck as Evenepoel then suffered multiple mechanical difficulties.
A first bike change was relatively quick, with speculation rising that there could have been a saddle problem that caused him to be dropped on the hardest climb of the race.
But the second one, with Evenepoel first hammering at his bars and then kicking into the air in anger as he waited for long seconds - calculated at 42 by Sporza.be - for his team car to come up, was another story.
The situation ended with the visibly frustrated Belgian nearly a minute behind the closest chasers and very definitely on the back foot when it came to the increasingly tough task of chasing down Pogačar.
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Evenepoel was lucky to garner yet more support from teammate Quinten Hermans to try to get back on terms, but an early abandon from Ilan Van Wilder, one of his other top teammates for the race after a crash, did not help his chase.
Yet Evenepoel was determined not to give up. With 65 kilometres to go, the Belgian was still in the third group, making furious accelerations at the head of a small group of chasers, and he further closed the gap to make it a minute behind Pogačar with 57 kilometres left to race.
Fighting for gold was looking increasingly like an uphill task for the Slovenian's top pre-race rival, although Evenepoel then staged a remarkable comeback in the closing kilometres to try and go for the podium. Meanwhile, in a repeat of Zurich 2024, Pogačar had dropped Del Toro and was heading away alone in a lone bid for a second road race title in as many years.
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