Belgium Can’t Lose The World Cycling Championships. But ONE Problem Could RUIN Everything

Belgium Can’t Lose The World Cycling Championships. But ONE Problem Could RUIN Everything Belgium arrives at the 2026 UCI Road World Championships in Montreal as the heavy favorite, with Tadej Pogačar sidelined by a season-ending Vuelta a España crash and both Remco Evenepoel and Wout van Aert in career form. But Belgium's biggest strength — having two genuine co-favorites instead of one — is also its biggest tactical risk. Evenepoel wins by attacking alone from long range. Van Aert wins by keeping a group together for a reduced sprint. Those plans conflict, there are no race radios to sort it out mid-race, and Belgium has already lived through this exact scenario going wrong once before, at the 2021 Worlds in Leuven. We break down the two rival winning scenarios, the tactical trap in the middle of the Montreal course, what national coach Serge Pauwels is doing to prevent a repeat of 2021, and why Belgium's real risk in Montreal isn't a talent gap, it's a hesitation gap. #CyclingWorlds #remcoevenepoel #woutvanaert #teambelgium #RoadWorlds2026 #Montreal2026 #procycling #pogacar #CyclingTactics #worldchampionship #RainbowJersey #roadcycling