Remco Evenpoel spoke for many when the winner was announced across the finish line in the UCI Road World Championship time trial." What, Foss?" He asked Soinier in disbelief.

Tobias Foss was not among the pre-race favorites, but the former Tour de l'Avenir winner rode up a storm, overturning the established order and winning Norway's first world title.

Evenepoel's surprise was compounded by the fact that he had not been told over the race radio of Hoss' winning time, and he beat two-time consecutive winner Filippo Ganna (ITA), but finished just ahead of Stefan Kühn (SW).

Evenepoel finished third, nine seconds behind Foss and six seconds behind Küng.

"I was a little surprised when I crossed the finish line and heard he won. I didn't talk about him at all on my radio. All I heard was [Stéphane] Kühn's name," the Belgian said at his bronze medal press conference. [It was a surprise, to be honest, but if you look at the last 10 kilometers, I think he did his best in the second half of the race. It's a bit of a surprise, but the fact that he was able to run that fast in the second half of the race means that he had a little bit more room than the other guys and he was ultimately the strongest."

Evenpole wobbled at the halfway point of the 34.2 km course, which consists of two laps around the technical Wollongong circuit, but was otherwise pleased with his performance, suggesting it was a career best in terms of power numbers.

"I had a bad moment going into the second lap," he said. The wind completely died down in the second half of the race, both the tailwind and the headwind, and it was a little bit of a challenge for me."

"I don't know. Looking at the results and the splits, I think Tobias went really fast in the last 7-8 km."

Evenpoel won his third minor medal after two consecutive bronze medals in the World Championships time trial and a silver medal in his 2019 debut, but the wait for an elite world title is still on. On that note, there is reason for optimism.

The 22-year-old, of course, won the Vuelta a España a week ago while traveling nearly 24 hours to the other side of the world. Recovering from his first Grand Tour finish is a big question mark heading into the world championships, and when he spoke to the media upon his arrival earlier this week, he revealed that he was struggling more than he first said.

But if Evenpoel is talking career-best power numbers, he is clearly not off the mark now that he is just one week away from another shot at the rainbow jersey in the elite road race.

"Today was the first day that I felt a little bit more normal. Earlier in the week, I actually wasn't feeling good at all. To be honest, I was a little bit scared today," Even Paul said.

"But I'm very happy with what I was able to do on my bike today. Just because there were two stronger riders than me, I have nothing to complain about and nothing to be sad about. I want to carry this feeling into next Sunday."

"I think I can sleep now," he added. His demeanor as he sat on stage while his fellow competitors on the podium answered questions was another indication of the depth of his fatigue. The season is getting pretty long," he said, "and I need my legs for a seven-hour race, so I want to recover well and go into Sunday with fresh legs.