How to turn the exceptional into routine
Tadej Pogačar takes his first European Championship after going solo with 75 kilometres to go | Evenepoel and Seixas complete the podium
One of the things that irritates me most about cycling is the immobility. There’s always suspicion when change arrives. It happens with the TV coverage, the rules, the terrain, the distances, the sacred names and places, and even the Monuments. Ours is a conservative sport.
The truth is, races — as Strade Bianche has shown for nearly two decades — are born, die, grow and evolve in unpredictable ways. Their importance isn’t defined by UCI points or the number of editions, but by the riders themselves.
The European Championships used to move around without a fixed date or clear direction, with uninspiring routes and secondary riders. That changed this year, and will likely continue next season, when Tadej Pogačar defends his title in Slovenia.
The world champion lined up against many of his rivals from last week’s race in Kigali. Only Del Toro broke into the top 10 among the non-Europeans. And while Healy and Pidcock were missing, Pogačar, Evenepoel, Ayuso and Skjelmose were joined by Vingegaard and Almeida.
It was a treat to see Jonas Vingegaard wearing the Danish jersey, though the pleasure was short-lived.
With 109 kilometres to go, the double Tour winner shook his head, gasping for air, and was dropped. He later admitted he hadn’t prepared for the race properly, though he believes he can one day be competitive in one-day races.
Let’s hope he finally proves it.
The first serious moves came with 104 kilometres remaining. Hyperactive France, despite having a rider in the break, attacked with Pavel Sivakov on the final slopes of Saint Romain de Lerps. Evenepoel immediately latched on, with Pogačar behind.
A small group formed, and Evenepoel pushed the pace downhill to keep Pogačar isolated, hoping to expose a weakness in the champion of our era.
Novak soon bridged across, and the group rejoined what was left of the peloton with fewer than 50 riders.
The first attempt to isolate Pogačar failed, but soon another move came from within his own comercial team: Jan Christen attacked on the steep ramp of Val d’Enfer, terrain perfect for Pogačar and a route even more suited to him than Kigali.
The move triggered another selection, and Evenepoel repeated his tactic: pull hard, refuse to share the work, and suffocate his rivals, until they caught the early break and Ayuso and a few Belgians joined from behind.
The decisive blow came 76 kilometres from the finish.