The UEC Highway European Championships had been held per week after the Rwanda Highway World Championships, sparking some logistical challenges for riders and groups however creating an additional week of entertaining nationwide group driving.
The winners had been largely as anticipated, however the racing was nonetheless nice to look at, with shows of superiority by Tadej Pogačar, Demi Vollering, Remco Evenepoel, Marlen Reusser, together with Jarno Widar within the under-23 males’s highway race and Paula Ostiz within the junior ladies’s highway race.
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Allez the French crowds however not the French hooligans
The European Championships had been organised by Guillaume Delpech, his group of professional volunteers, the UEC and race specialists Golazo, creating a novel and pleasant ambiance.
As L’Equipe defined, Delpech created a race to recollect his father. It advanced into the Faun-Ardèche Traditional and Faun Drôme Traditional races, and is now a part of the European Championships.
The French biking followers turned out as all the time, with 1000’s of individuals packing the 2 climbs of the highway racing circuits on the weekend. They crammed the roadside and applauded the riders like on a Tour de France mountain end.
Sadly, the behaviour of some went too far, with some touching Tadej Pogačar when on the assault and even stickering him in some. French crowds love biking, however in recent times, a brand new ‘hooligan’ technology has emerged. Let’s hope they study to respect the riders.
Tadej Pogačar’s bodily and psychological dominance
Tadej Pogačar once more did what Tadej Pogačar all the time does and dominated the lads’s highway race with one other solo assault.
This time, he went solo with 75km to go. He had deliberate to attend, however when Belgium and France distanced his Slovenian teammates, he knew he had to attract out and assault his rivals to keep away from a later tactical battle.
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It was a easy tactic however Pogačar once more pulled it off, out driving Evenepoel and the group of 4 chasers that rode in opposition to every, already defeated and occupied with the rostrum locations. Pogačar’s dominance is each bodily and psychological.
Remco Evenepoel – one of the best of the remaining
Remco Evenepoel had hoped to tackle Pogačar with the help of a powerful Belgian group. He deserves admiration for his braveness and dedication. He gained the time trial title and was once more second within the highway race.
“He is a phenomenon. He is virtually enjoying a special sport. I’ve by no means seen such a distinction,” Belgian nationwide coach Serge Pauwels stated, placing Evenepoel’s latest performances within the correct context.
“If you happen to take Pogačar out of the equation, you can virtually say the identical about Evenepoel. He’s very, excellent proper now, however there’s one step above him.”
Demi Vollering is again to her finest
The ladies’s Netherlands group celebrated collectively on the rostrum after the ladies’s highway race, forgetting the tensions and disputes of the previous and lifting winner Demi Vollering and bronze medallist Anna van der Breggen within the air.
Vollering revealed that her interval had affected her efficiency on the World Championships, however she was again to her finest on the European Championships.
She rode away from her rivals on the climb and gained alone as she usually has carried out. Van der Breggen performed a loyal group position after which sportingly refused to dash in opposition to Kasia Niewiadoma after sitting on her wheel.
“Generally I attempt to do too nicely and an excessive amount of, like final 12 months on the World Championships in Zurich, but it surely all went fallacious. I made a decision to let go of that extra and mentioned it with Laurens Ten Dam. Now every little thing fell into place,” Vollering defined.
Paul Seixas actually may very well be France’s subsequent good thing
Paul Seixas is maybe not a brand new title to Cyclingnews readers, however his third place within the males’s highway race was his newest consecration as one of many future greats of the game and maybe, simply maybe, France’s subsequent Tour de France winner.
Seixas solely turned 19 two weeks in the past and is in his first season as a WorldTour skilled, however he’s displaying all of the indicators of greatness. Thankfully, he additionally has the maturity and broad shoulders to deal with all of the hype.
He, not Pogačar, was the headline story on the entrance web page of L’Equipe, with the French newspaper rightly celebrating his success. He will certainly make his Tour debut in 2026, with the expectations solely rising. Allez Paul.
The long run seems to be shiny
Younger riders are merging sooner than ever in biking, making a refreshing change within the males’s and ladies’s peloton and indicating that some nice future abilities are positive to emerge within the years to come back.
We now lastly have a separate race for under-23 ladies, and the junior races are a much more correct indicator of the long run.
We will all get enthusiastic about double European winner and world champion Paula Ostiz, under-23 Jarno Widar and even junior males’s highway race winner Karl Herzog. Most main groups now have improvement programmes in place that may assist them develop their abilities.
Make the European Championships a summer time occasion
Putting the European Championships per week after the world championships makes an fascinating block of racing, however simply assume how good it may very well be if each championships had been held in August.
Riders needed to sprint again from Rwanda to compete in France, and in 2026, they may journey from the Worlds in Montreal, Canada, to race on the European Championships in Slovenia.
Certainly the Vuelta can begin per week or two later and so keep away from a Championship conflict with the end-of-season races. Making a coherent, logical, and sustainable racing calendar shouldn’t be that tough.
