Evenepoel Wins European Road Race by Centimeters as Vollering Defends Her Title

Two European road titles in Slovenia turned on contrasting finishes: Remco Evenepoel edged Giulio Ciccone by about two centimeters after a late crash and a hard chase, while Demi Vollering rode clear to defend her crown. The steep Možjanca climb shaped both races, but the men’s contest came down to a photo finish and the women’s to a controlled solo effort.

Evenepoel recovers after a crash

The 196.3 km men’s race ran from Ljubljana to Šenčur, with five laps of a 22.1 km circuit. Each lap featured the Možjanca, a 2.1 km climb averaging 10.4%. More than half the field had been shed by the fourth lap, when Evenepoel attacked on the climb with 36.2 km remaining. Ciccone was the only rider able to follow.

Less than 200 metres after launching, Evenepoel took a corner too quickly and slid out. He said afterward that he was unhurt and his bike was intact. The Belgian remounted and regrouped with teammates and Ciccone. His first move had ended abruptly, but he kept his composure and returned to the race plan.

“I went a bit too fast in the corner, and I just slipped away,” Evenepoel said. He described attacking again before the descent. That second acceleration came with 32 km left, on the rolling ground beyond the summit. Ciccone again stayed with him, while the chase behind failed to organize a sustained response.

The pair reached the final kilometre together, Evenepoel leading. Ciccone attacked from a corner with 300 metres to go and briefly opened a gap of roughly seven metres. He couldn’t hold it to the line: Evenepoel surged back, and the two crossed almost level. Officials needed about 10 minutes to confirm the result. The finish image gave Evenepoel the win by around two centimeters, less than an inch.

Italy’s Christian Scaroni was third, 59 seconds behind. The result gave Evenepoel his first European road title and a measure of relief after his disappointment in the previous weekend’s world championship road race in Montreal. “It’s a big relief to be back on a good level today,” he said, thanking his Belgian teammates for carrying out the plan.

It was the last major championship jersey missing from the five-time world individual time trial champion’s collection. Cyclinguptodate reported that the win made Evenepoel the first rider to claim every major road racing and time trial title at world, Olympic, European and national level.

Ciccone, meanwhile, was left with another narrow defeat. He said the first finish image wasn’t clear to him, but the second confirmed the outcome. He also described the season’s placings as especially difficult, saying he had lost count of his second-place finishes.

Vollering makes her move stick

Vollering’s race followed a different script. The Netherlands rider defended her European title after attacking with 14.6 km remaining and building a lead of more than 40 seconds. She finished in 3:10:33, five seconds ahead of teammate Puck Pieterse and Switzerland’s Marlen Reusser.

The Dutch team had used a similar approach the previous week in Montreal, where Pieterse set a hard pace before Vollering made a solo move. There, Vollering went clear with 39 km to go, was caught and ultimately won in a sprint. In Slovenia she waited longer to attack, and the gap held. She eased off during the last 5 km and slowed to celebrate, accounting for the final five-second margin.

The 130 km women’s race featured two ascents of Možjanca. The second proved decisive: Pieterse accelerated, Vollering made her move, and a small chasing group formed. Pieterse stayed with that group and won the sprint for second, ahead of Reusser. Elisa Longo Borghini finished fourth at the same time as Pieterse and Reusser; Antonia Niedermaier was fifth, 15 seconds back. Poland’s Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney placed sixth, 45 seconds behind, after crashing at the final corner.

The win added a European road title to a season that already included the world championship and 16 victories in 2026. Those wins include the Giro d’Italia Women, Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, Tour of Flanders, La Flèche Wallonne Femmes and Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes. “It’s my golden year,” Vollering told TNT Sports, adding that she looked forward to racing in the jersey next season.

She praised Pieterse’s ride as well as the team’s work, and said that improving day by day is part of what keeps racing rewarding. For the Dutch squad, the result showed how a teammate can help set up a winning attack and still earn a place on the podium. Both races made the same point in different ways: on this course, the steep climb created the selection, while timing and control decided what happened next.

Elite men’s European road race results

Elite women’s European road race results

Read the report on Tadej Pogačar’s absence. Ciccone’s post-race comments are available in this video interview.

Originally published by Škoda We Love Cycling.