Lemko Evenpoel was the third winner at Clasica San Sebastian and the last in the rainbow jersey before next weekend's World Championships road race in Glasgow.

While the Glasgow course appears to suit the talents of Wout Van Aert and Jasper Philipsen, there is no doubt that Evenpoel will enjoy considerable freedom on the Belgian team. He downplayed the idea that the San Sebastián victory was for his own insistence.

"This victory shows that I have the legs, but the selection for the Belgian team is clear. "Wout and Jasper, who are good sprinters, and me, who can attack from distance, as I did last year. So this is not a "hands-on" response, but proof that my form is there and that I have the legs to be in front next week."

At last year's Wollongong, Evenpoel won the bronze medal in the time trial, followed by a long solo attack to win the road race.

As part of the UCI's first-ever multi-discipline "Super Worlds" novelty schedule, the time trial will take place five days after the road race on Sunday.

Evenpoel would not say whether one or the other race would be advantageous to his future.

"Both should suit me, but I will find out eventually," he said of his summer goals in front of select media, including Cycling News.

"The TT is long and not super technical. I think it will be a special race. I hope it doesn't rain, but of course it's in Glasgow.

"The local laps will have lots of corners and ups and downs, but the race will be nearly seven hours long, the legs will be fatigued and I think attackers and escapees will have the advantage.

After the World Championships, Evenpoel will compete in the Vuelta a España, where he will defend the crown he won in 2022.

The Belgian abandoned the Giro d'Italia in May while leading the race after testing positive for COVID-19. In Spain, he will face Giro winner Primoz Roglic and Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard.

"You have to write off the Tour winner as the absolute best candidate. It makes sense," said Evenpole, according to Wielerfritz.

"Jumbo-Visma has a super strong team in the Vuelta. I like that. It's a valuable learning experience for next year. But it's not just a school. I'm going to try to perform as well."

Evenepoel was also asked if he could hope to match the level reached by Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar in the most recent Tour de France.

"That's a very difficult question. We don't know. We may not know until after next year's Tour. But if you believe the watt-per-kilometer calculations, Taddeji and Jonas have put up numbers that I have already achieved in the Tour. They obviously did it day after day, though," Evenpoel said.

"I think both of them have reached incredibly high levels this year. I hope to be able to compete with them in 2024."