Remco Evenepoel (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) secured his first elite men's time trial title at the Belgian Road Championships in Gavere.
Evenepoel covered the 34.8km route in a winning time of 40:22 to beat his trade teammate and last year's winner Yves Lampaert (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) by 37 seconds and third placed Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Soudal) by 1:34.
“I can’t tell you how happy I am with my maiden national title, one I had been chasing for a few years now. It was very hard with the heat today, I lost my bottle quite soon which wasn’t ideal, but I had an amazing bike and a good pace and could keep it the entire race," Evenepoel said.
"It’s great to be on the podium with a teammate and to know that I will wear this jersey in the time trials over the next twelve months. This win gives me a lot of motivation to keep working in this discipline. It’s an emotional day for me, because it showed that step by step I am returning to my top level."
Evenepoel was one of the outright favourites for the win, and showed that he was on top form heading into the event after securing the stage 8 time trial victory at the Tour de Suisse on Sunday in Vaduz.
Lampaert clocked in with the fastest opening time check at 5.8km, however, Evenepoel continued to gain speed throughout the subsequent laps finishing 37 seconds faster than his nearest rival.
It was a memorable 1-2 in Gavere for QuickStep-AlphaVinyl, while Dries Devenyns concluded the day in seventh place and made it three teammates in the top 10.
“I gave everything out there, but I knew it was for second place. The longer a time trial is, the better for Remco. It was a fight until the end, against myself in the first place. I’m happy the jersey stays in the team, and that it’s the first time Remco takes it in the pro ranks. It’s such a beautiful jersey and it’s a pleasure to hand it over to him," Lampaert said.
Evenepoel will now turn his attention to the 208.7km road race event held on Sunday in Middelkerke.
"For Sunday, we have a really strong team with several cards to play, and it will be important to support each other regardless of the scenario. We will definitely go for a good result," Evenepoel said.
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