"A course that is interesting, open and dynamic": Organizers expect Pogacar to face tough competition at home European Championships

It's mentioned only occasionally that Tadej Pogacar, the reigning world champion, holds the European title as well after a dominant performance in Ardeche last October. Moving to the current season, Pogacar is faced with an opportunity to equal Peter Sagan's record of three consecutive world titles on a familiar course in Montreal, but perhaps even more intriguing to the 27-year-old will be the home European Championships in Ljubljana.

The course's distinctive feature will be a steep 2.1-kilometer climb with an average gradient of over 10% which will be contested multiple times in the decisive segment of the race. Definitely up Pogacar's alley-way, but it doesn't make the race so hard that other favourites would not stand a chance of their own - if they play their cards right.

Tomaž Poljanec, Secretary-General of the European Championships, highlighted the open nature of the 2026 parcours during the route presentation: "In designing the course, we tried to find a balance between sporting challenge, organisational feasibility and presenting Slovenia at its best."

"The course meets the standards of the European Cycling Union (UEC), while also being adapted to Slovenian conditions and the logistical demands of an event of this scale — from airport access and motorway connections to the impact of road closures on the local community." The European Championships takes place only a few days after the World Championships in Montreal, which is why the organisers opted to stay in the vicnity of Ljubljana Airport.

Ever since it was announced that Slovenia would host the 2026 European Championships, reasonable worries that the course would be tailor-made to suit their superstar prevailed among cycling community, but fortunately, the Slovenian organizers prepared a 196-kilometer race where Pogacar's advantage doesn't appear to be as overwhelming as some thought.

"We have designed a course that is interesting, open and dynamic, with a final circuit that is selective, but not extremely difficult," the organisers said. Expectations are that up to 300,000 spectators will be at the roadside on Sunday, October 4 when the men's road race takes place. An individual time-trial, which Pogacar also intends to ride, will take place three days later over the distance of 22 kilometers.