European Championships Ljubljana men's elite road race 2026 preview, profile, favourites & predictions - Will Evenepoel be beaten in Slovenia?
Cycling
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
In comparison with the Giro dell'Emilia which takes place in the same weekend - but not the same day - the startlist of the Europeans is very modest. Remco Evenepoel enters it as the big name at the start, but not the overwhelming favourite as the form he showed at the GP de Montréal and road race World Championships was far from his best.
12 months ago he was a dominant second place, but this time around the course also does not feature endurance as a key aspect, one of Evenepoel's specialties. The climb to Mozjanca can be crucial for the race and some may wait for the final lap. The race may not be too hard to control and Italy will have depth to put Belgium under serious pressure.
Giulio Ciccone as the man to be saved for the final climb, perhaps the rider coming in with the best climbing legs; Christian Scaroni as the one to be saved for a potential sprint and Giulio Pellizzari as the one who should attack from afar and really try to take advantage of the team's numbers. Of course, all of this may not work if Evenepoel himself attacks early and sets off by himself on the plateau sections.
Primoz Roglic is racing at home and leads Slovenia, a rider who hasn't been performing too well on one-day races in recent years but showed great legs at the World Championships and does have a well suited course to his abilities. Mads Pedersen, on the opposite, should be a threat for early attacks as he can withstand long periods on the attack and he must have advantage going into the final climb otherwise his chances of winning should fade.
France have Romain Grégoire and Kévin Vauquelin in the helm but a team that can put on some good pressure with their depth; the likes of Juan Ayuso, Jan Christen, MAthias Vacek and Marco Brenner will also be men to watch in a race that can become tactical.
Prediction 2026 men's elite road race European championships
*** Remco Evenepoel, Giulio Ciccone
** Romain Grégoire, Christian Scaroni, Primoz Roglic
* Maxim van Gils, Jenno Berckmoes, Kévin Vauquelin, Mads Pedersen, Anthon Charmig, Giulio Pellzzari, Juan Ayuso, Jan Christen, Mathias Vacek
Pick: Remco Evenepoel
How: Small groups sprint.
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)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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