Remco Evenepoel wins European Road Championships
The Belgian cycling star secured the title in Slovenia after a thrilling photo finish ahead of Giulio Ciccone.
Quick Look
- Remco Evenepoel won the European Road Championships for the first time.
- After 196.3 kilometers from Ljubljana to Sencur, the Belgian beat the Italian Giulio Ciccone in the photo finish.
- The best German was Emil Herzog in seventh place.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Evenepoel won the title in Slovenia, home of absent defending champion Tadej Pogacar. The race ran over 196.3 kilometers from Ljubljana to Sencur.
Cycling star Remco Evenepoel celebrated the title of European road champion for the first time in his career. After second place last year, the Belgian lived up to his role as favorite in Slovenia. Despite a small fall and an exciting photo finish, he celebrated the success in the home of the absent defending champion Tadej Pogacar. The Tour de France winner is still recovering from his fall at the Vuelta, but presented himself to the fans as a visitor.
After 196.3 kilometers between the capital Ljubljana and the municipality of Sencur, the 26-year-old Olympic champion narrowly won ahead of the Italian Giulio Ciccone after evaluating the finish photos. After completing the circuit several times in the second half of the race, Christian Scaroni from Italy came third. The best German was Emil Herzog in seventh place.
The Belgians set the pace in the peloton for long stretches. Just under 36 kilometers from the finish, Evenepoel launched an attack followed by Ciccone. Shortly afterwards, Evenepoel slipped on an uphill corner. But he quickly got back on his bike.
After a small group formed again, the professional from the German Red Bull team and Ciccone broke away again. Shortly before the finish, the Italian overtook Evenepoel, but he fought back and roared his celebrations when he was confirmed as the winner after crossing the finish line.
In the surprising World Cup success of the American Brandon McNulty a week ago in Montreal, Evenepoel only came twelfth. A few days earlier he had celebrated becoming time trial world champion for the fourth time in a row.
The young professional Herzog, who is only 21 years old, surprised by coming in seventh place. The German squad also included Tour de France stage winner John Degenkolb. Maximilian Schachmann and Marco Brenner, who most recently won a stage at the Vuelta and had previously won the Tour of Poland, were also part of the team.
The mixed team time trial takes place at the European Championships on Tuesday, followed a day later by the women's and men's individual time trials. The cycling season is coming to an end. The last big event is the Tour of Lombardy on October 10th.
