Remco Evenepoel: The silver medal feels like gold at this World Championships

Remco Evenepoel
Remco Evenepoel relaxes on the podium after taking the silver behind Rohan Dennis (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)

The cycling world waited in anticipation to see how Belgium's 19-year-old phenom Remco Evenepoel would fare in the elite men's individual time trial at the 2019 UCI Road World Championships in Yorkshire. He secured the silver after finishing the 54km event 1:08 slower than two-time world champion Rohan Dennis (Australia), in what he said felt like a gold-medal performance.

"I surprised myself today," Evenepoel told the press. "I knew some big names were going to be difficult to beat. Rohan was one of them, and if you see how fast he came into the finish line, over one minute in front of me, I'm not disappointed at all. I think I can only be happy with my performance of the day."

Evenepoel was among the final third to start his time trial and covered the course in 1:06:14, a benchmark time that lasted to the end until Dennis crossed the line just over a minute faster. Despite being one of the favourites coming into the race, he insisted that he never thought of himself as a medal contender in Yorkshire. 

Kirsten Frattini
Deputy Editor

Kirsten Frattini is the Deputy Editor of Cyclingnews, overseeing the global racing content plan.

Kirsten has a background in Kinesiology and Health Science. She has been involved in cycling from the community and grassroots level to professional cycling's biggest races, reporting on the WorldTour, Spring Classics, Tours de France, World Championships and Olympic Games.

She began her sports journalism career with Cyclingnews as a North American Correspondent in 2006. In 2018, Kirsten became Women's Editor – overseeing the content strategy, race coverage and growth of women's professional cycling – before becoming Deputy Editor in 2023.