ANALYSIS | Tadej Pogacar's main 5 rivals to into the 2025 European Championship

This coming Sunday, October 5, the elite men's race of the European Championships 2025 will take place with Tadej Pogacar as great favorite. The Slovenian, two-time winner of the rainbow jersey, is the main favourite but he is facing competition that is perhaps better than what he faced in Kigali. This will include extra rivals such as Jonas Vingegaard, João Almeida...

The 202-kilometer route starts in Privas and finishes in Guilherand-Granges, with more than 3,000 meters of accumulated elevation gain and up to 14 categorized climbs along the route. The route has 2 circuits, the first with 3 climbs to the very hard Saint Romain de Lerps (7 km at 7.2%) and the final one with 4 climbs to the Val D'Enfer (1.6 km at 9.7%). The last ascent of the long pass will take place 71 kilometers from the finish and the last climb at 6 kilometers from the finish.

Their rivals will be similar to those of the World Championships, although with a Danish team that will be even scarier with Jonas Vingegaard and Mads Pedersen at the helm. Once again he will have Remco Evenepoel and Juan Ayuso who looked strong in Kigali, or men like Mattias Skjelmose, Joao Almeida, Romain Grégoire...

As you can see, the race looks set to be one of the most competitive of recent editions of the UCI European Championships. For Tadej Pogacar, the big favorite, who will be the 5 main rivals of his?

After what he showed in the time trial at the European Championships, Remco is still going strong. We will never know if he would have been able to keep up with Pogacar at the World Championships if he had not suffered a saddle problem on his bike on the ascent of Mount Kigali. He was heavily criticized (especially from Belgium) for his second bike change and he will surely arrive at Sunday's event with his sights on a title, one he said was perhaps more important than the rainbow jersey as he has not won it yet. Let no one forget that he lapped Pogi in the time trial in Rwanda. In theory he is his biggest rival.

The Dane is the main novelty in the list of participants. He did not want to sign up for the World Championships in Kigali, but he did plan to ride the European Championships. He has not raced since winning the last Vuelta a España, after which he finished very exhausted. So far the few forays he has had in one-day races against Pogi have not gone well. He arrives, however, with a beastly Danish team with Mads Pedersen as a road captain and Mattias Skjelmose (fourth in Kigali) in top form and determined to work for him. Will he be able to perform?

He was the only rider who held the pace of Pogacar on Mount Kigali, but then on the Mur could not withstand the attack of Isaac del Toro that made him burst and then could only finish eighth. Difficult to think that he can hold on with Pogacar on a one on one basis as seen in the World Championships, but it should not be ruled out if they are watching each other between the Slovenian, Vingegaard and Evenepoel that he could take the opportunity to attack from afar looking for his chance. In a race less dictated by the heat and endurance, the Spaniard could be closer to the best than we may believe.

The big question to ask the Portuguese rider is whether he is going to try to win or, like Isaac del Toro, relatively collaborate with Pogacar as the Mexican did in the World Championships. If he is going to try to win, he is another man who can take advantage of the marking between the big favorites to try to win. He didn't ride the time trial, we imagine because he wouldn't look fit enough to fight for the medals. He finished, like Vingegaard, exhausted after his great Vuelta a España, we'll have to see if he's in shape, but it's a course where he could surprise.

Analyzing the rest of the list of participants, looking at another possible favorite to beat Tadej Pogacar 2025, we opt for another UAE rider as a possible candidate. So, ruling out Pedersen and Skjelmose having freedom in Denmark, the strongest team seems to be the French team with Romain Grégoire and Valentin Paret-Peintre. But, given what we saw in Kigali, it is very difficult for a non-UAE outsider to win, so we are betting on the wayward Swiss rider Jan Christen as the remote attacking option from afar that could end up triumphing.