The elite men time trial of the 2023 World Championships took place in Scotland on Friday, August 11. The organizers had planned a 47.8-kilometer route from Stirling to Stirling. Except for a small climb to the finish line, the route had an almost flat profile that allowed for very high speeds. The riders competed under partly sunny skies and the temperature was optimal for professional cycling.

The event had attracted many of the world’s best time trialists. Belgium’s Wout van Aert, Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar, Britain’s Geraint Thomas, Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel, Denmark’s Kasper Asgreen, Germany’s Nils Politt, Switzerland’s Stefan Bissegger, Italy’s Felippo Ganna, Australia’s Jay Vine, and France’s Remi Cavagna – also known as the TGV train from Clermont-Ferrand – took part in today’s world time trial championships. 

Ireland’s Ryan Mullen set an early fastest time of 58:21,57 minutes. With the exception of a number of national champion titles, Mullen has had a rather eventless career while riding for Cannondale, Trek-Segafredo, and Bora-Hansgrohe. 

At Intermediate Timing Point 1 Filippo Ganna (Italy) set the fastest time. Great Britain’s youngster Joshua Tarling was second best at this point, while Remi Cavagna (France) was third best. How would they fare during the rest of the time trial?

Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel replaced Tarling as the second-best rider at Intermediate Timing Point 1 (ITP 1). He was four seconds slower than Ganna. 

Nelson Oliveira set a new fastest time at the finish. His time was faster than Lawson Craddock’s (USA) and Canadian Derek Gee’s.

19-year-old Tarling stunned everyone by setting a new fastest time across the finish line. His time was 56:07,43 minutes. Tarling was more than a minute faster than Oliveira.

Evenepoel set a new fastest time at Intermediate Timing Point 2 (ITF 2). He was twelve seconds faster than Tarling. Could he continue his incredible speed?

Van Aert set a new second best preliminary time at the finish. He was 49 seconds slower than race leader Tarling. Though his finish time was impressive, he would not be crowned World Champion today.

Pogacar disappointingly set a 23rd best time at ITP 2. He was more than two minutes slower than the best man. 

Ganna surprised many by setting a new fastest time at the finish. The Italian was approximately 36 seconds faster than Tarling.

Evenepoel crossed the finish line in a new best time. He was twelve seconds faster than Ganna. He looked set to become the new Time Trial World Champion.

Evenepoel won the 2023 time trial world championships in Scotland and was crowned World Champion. Ganna finished second, while Tarling completed the podium by taking the bronze medal. 

USA’s Brandon McNulty finished fourth, Van Aert fifth, Oliveira 6^th. Italy’s Mattia Cattaneo was 8th, Denmark’s Mikkel Bjerg ninth, while Geraint Thomas completed the top ten for Great Britain.

It was the final World Championships participation of Rohan Dennis’ (Australia) career as a professional cyclist. Dennis will retire at the end of the year. Dennis finished seventh.

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