European Championships Ljubljana men's elite road race 2026 preview, profile, favourites & predictions - Will Evenepoel take vengeance on Pogacar's home roads?
CyclingWednesday, 30 September 2026 at 12:32
On Sunday the 4th of October 2026, the peloton will take on the men's elite road race at the 2026 Ljubljana European Championships. Remco Evenepoel, Primoz Roglic and Mads Pedersen will be amonst the main favourites. Below, you'll find the favourites for the race, preview and its route.
First held in 2016, the European Championships provided a new opportunity for the best riders in Europe to show their talent, obtain a big win and fight for a special jersey which they would get to wear for 12 months.
In the men's elite road race, none other than Peter Sagan won the first edition in Plumelec, adding to his world title which he held at the time. Almost in its entirety, the Europeans have provided opportunities for the sprinters and classics specialists to perform - whereas the World Championships were more often guided towards the sprinters.
Alexander Kristoff, Matteo Trentin, Elia Viviani, Giacomo Nizzolo, Sonny Colbrelli, Fabio Jakobsen, Christophe Laporte and Tim Merlier led to an uninterrupted sequence of riders who held a strong sprint who took the title in consecutive fashion. The likes of Julian Alaphilippe, Mathieu van der Poel, Wout Van Aert and Remco Evenepoel all finished second in separate editions but never managed to win it, cementing just how competitive the race had become.
In 2025 Tadej Pogacar took the victory on a climbers' course in Faun-Ardèche, taking the title ahead of Remco Evenepoel whilst Paul Seixas took the bronze medal in a breakthrough performance.
Profile: Ljubljana - Sencur
Ljubljana - Sencur, 197 kilometers
The race will begin in Slovenia's capital of Ljubljana, moving through Komenda - the hometown of the absent Tadej Pogacar - and then will move towards the final circuit which will decide the race.
The race is 197 kilometers in length, and features just over 2500 meters of climbing. Unlike the World Championships, the circuit is rather simply, with one obvious feature: the climb to Mozjanca which is 2.1 kilometers long at just 10%. The climb will be tackled on five different occasions.
The riders descend back into Sencur, where the finale will be held. In the final lap, the riders will be 14.5 kilometers away from the finish line at this point. The summit of the climb is followed by a small plateau section of about 3.5 kilometers in distance.
After a fast descent, only the final 5 kilometers will truly be flat, meaning that putting on a chase over such terrain is difficult. However, the climb will be quite difficult on each occasion, and the endurance aspect will not be as present as at the World Championships.
Preview 2026 men's elite road race European championships
The race will not see Tadej Pogacar at the start following his injuries suffered at La Vuelta, taking him out of a race virtually designed for him - even racing through his hometown of Komenda. Remco Evenepoel, second last year at the Europeans, might be the big favourite to take the win but his form at the GP de Montréal and World Championships' road race was unconvinging.
Home favourite Primoz Roglic might have a big saying, whilst rider such as Giulio Ciccone, Giulio Pellizzari, Christian Scaroni (Italy), Juan Ayuso (Spain), Jan Christen (Switzerland), Romain Grégoire (France) and Denmark's Mads Pedersen may be within a shot of taking their first European jersey at elite level.
A larger in-depth preview will follow...
Read also
List of winners of the men's elite road race European championships
| Year | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
| 2025 | Tadej Pogačar | Remco Evenepoel | Paul Seixas |
| 2024 | Tim Merlier | Olav Kooij | Madis Mihkels |
| 2023 | Christophe Laporte | Wout van Aert | Olav Kooij |
| 2022 | Fabio Jakobsen | Arnaud Démare | Tim Merlier |
| 2021 | Sonny Colbrelli | Remco Evenepoel | Benoît Cosnefroy |
| 2020 | Giacomo Nizzolo | Arnaud Démare | Pascal Ackermann |
| 2019 | Elia Viviani | Yves Lampaert | Pascal Ackermann |
| 2018 | Matteo Trentin | Mathieu van der Poel | Wout van Aert |
| 2017 | Alexander Kristoff | Elia Viviani | Moreno Hofland |
| 2016 | Peter Sagan | Julian Alaphilippe | Daniel Moreno |
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
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- true, but remco seemed to win in spite of WVA that day. they just are not getting great results when teamwork is needed.mij30-09-2026
- I kept thinking the same thing - that he was being isolated by his own team with pointless attacks so early. Especially when you know MVDP is going to thin out the herd with a big attack. He already said he was going to, and he did.mij30-09-2026
- It's not a great translation, but I think what he's saying is that Remco is exceptional when in training he can imagine the roar of the crowds as he wins, as he has said himself. With WVA as co-leader, he could not mentally prepare like that.Hills3330-09-2026
- Absolutely!Lozza30-09-2026
- Agreed. He has to say something controversial to justify his pay cheque.Cyclingsbestfan30-09-2026
- Why wouldn't your team boss congratulate you? It's a big deal to have a world champion on your team.Cyclingsbestfan30-09-2026
- As a World Tour team, surely Picnic Post NL will get an automatic invite to any and all grand tours and World Tour races regardless of their position in the pecking order of UCI points at the end of this season.Lozza30-09-2026
- Yes, this time I agree with you... the best team was the american team. Chapeau to them.PogiSloFans30-09-2026
- Yes, I bow to Pogi, with respect. You bow to your orange orangutan maga president... the most hated person in the world.PogiSloFans30-09-2026
- OK, I agree, Lance Armstrong was a jerk and the biggest doper in the history of any sports. He's also wrong about UAE and Gianetti. The experts and trainers in UAE are amoung the best in the world. We can all see what they did with Pogi... they made him a "killing machine"... who dominates cycling with unstoppable ruthless precision. McNulty can also be happy, he became the WC because of UAE, they are the ones that got him to this level, not the USA team. As for Armstrong, like I said, he's the No.1 doper... but: His Livestrong Foundation raised about $500 million for cancer-related programs and services during Lance Armstrong's career. That money came from many sources, individual donors, corporate partners, merchandise, events, and other fundraising. Armstrong personally donated approximately $7 million to the foundation. Livestrong described the Armstrong family as its largest donor. Lance did not receive a salary as chairman of the foundation. PS: How many of you Armstrong haters donated for cancer? Every year, on World Cancer Day, February 4th, my wife and I donate 200€ for cancer patients.PogiSloFans30-09-2026
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