Belgian cyclist Remco Evenepoel won the European road race championship in Slovenia on Sunday, edging Italy's Giulio Ciccone in a photo finish and completing a full set of major championship titles. Italy's Christian Scaroni took bronze, almost a minute behind the leading pair.
The 26-year-old, the 2024 Olympic road race champion and 2022 world champion, attacked with roughly 32 to 36 kilometres of the 196-kilometre course remaining. His first move ended in a slide on the tarmac at a sharp corner, but he recovered quickly, helped by teammates Maxim Van Gils and Ramses Debruyne, and returned to the front. Only Ciccone could follow his second attack. The two stayed together to the finish at Sencur, where Evenepoel misjudged the final bend, fell behind in the sprint and then clawed back the gap on the line. Neither rider dared celebrate until the finish photo confirmed the result after nearly a minute and a half of waiting. Evenepoel then screamed with joy and embraced teammates and his wife.
The win completes a collection that began with the European time trial title in Alkmaar, the Netherlands, in 2019. Evenepoel has now won both the road race and the time trial at the Olympics, the Belgian national championships and the world championships, and he had previously taken two European time trial titles but only silver, twice, in the European road race.
The victory carried emotional weight. A week earlier at the world championships in Montreal, Evenepoel could not stay with the leaders on the day American Brandon McNulty took a surprise win. He admitted the setback weighed on his mind and made him doubt his form. "A whole nation expects a lot from me, and I disappointed many people last week, so I hope I've made up for it somewhat," he told Belgian broadcasters. He called the result a big relief and said the achievement deserved a big celebration.
Evenepoel started as the favourite because several top names were absent. Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar, the defending European champion and the world champion until last week, is sidelined by injury after a crash at the Vuelta, the Tour of Spain. The race, which started in the capital Ljubljana and passed through Pogacar's home town of Komenda, still featured him as guest of honour, and he greeted fans from a car. He also joined a farewell for compatriot Luka Mezgec, who retired after 17 professional seasons. Jonas Vingegaard, Paul Seixas, Tom Pidcock and Mathieu van der Poel were also missing.
The Dutch team struggled on a demanding course with about 2,500 metres of climbing. Designated leader Wout Poels crashed early and abandoned, and Tijmen Graat was the best Dutch finisher in 24th place.