Belgium arrives at the 2026 World Championships in Montréal with two genuine contenders in Remco Evenepoel and Wout van Aert. The hilly circuit, featuring significant climbing around Mount Royal, looks better suited to Evenepoel’s explosive style, yet Van Aert arrives in strong form and still carries real chances if a select group reaches the finale.
National coach Serge Pauwels has deliberately avoided a strict hierarchy, giving both riders clear but flexible “mandates” so they do not cancel each other out.
In 2021, when Evenepoel was supposed to support Van Aert, an early attack created tension and left the team short. At the 2024 Olympics the opposite approach worked: Van Aert marked the key rival and opened the door for Evenepoel’s gold.
Pauwels: “Unlike at the 2021 World Championships in Leuven, Wout and Remco get along well now. The race itself will determine who becomes the designated leader on the road. It is a fact that the tactics will be complex, but I want to make them very clear to my team leaders. After all, we don’t have race radios at the World Championships. We have two leaders who want to win, but it comes down to the mandate they receive from me and the responsibility they take during the race.”
“When can they attack, or when should they wait? I want to make that very clear to them,” the national coach adds. “It’s about reaching agreements that both of them are happy with. They get along well and genuinely want each other to succeed. I start by looking at what the riders consider the ideal scenario for winning, and then I try to find a good blend of their preferred scenarios.”