Tadej Pogacar CONFIRMED to be absent from European Championships - Primoz Roglic hunts home glory
CyclingWednesday, 30 September 2026 at 11:00
The European Championships will begin this weekend in Ljubljana, Slovenia, and will host many of the world's best in pursuit of the title that Tadej Pogacar currently holds. But the UAE Team Emirates - XRG will not take part in the event, that has now been confirmed as Slovenia announced their lineup for the upcoming races.
The course appeared to have been designed towards the specialties of the climbers and, before his injury, Tadej Pogacar had made a goal of racing it. The European title is one he only obtained for the first time in his career last year in Faun-Ardèche, with the climbers also being presented with a course for their abilities.
This time around, the same type of rider is expected towards the front, but with less figures than at the World Championships - with the new World Champion Brandon McNulty and the American team of course not allowed to take part in the race.
From the Top12 - the riders who battled for medals in the worlds - only 7 riders are European: Mathieu van der Poel, Mads Pedersen, Tom Pidcock, Giulio Ciccone, Ben Healy, Mauro Schmid and Remco Evenepoel. This could form a core of contenders for the race, although out of those only Evenepoel, Ciccone and Pedersen are confirmed to take part in the race.
Tadej Pogacar will not be racing the European Championships
Tadej Pogacar out of European Championships
It had already previously been confirmed that Tadej Pogacar has ended his season due to the injuries sustained at the Vuelta a España. Then, on stage 8, he suffered a concussion, as well as a fractured collarbone and vertebra.
The Slovenian had been ruled out of competition but reportedly wanted to return for the European Championships at 'home'. He is said to have contacted the doctor that operated him in Barcelona, but that his push to return to competition was not something UAE Team Emirates - XRG wanted.
Still, there had been speculation. The European Championships organizers revealed a startlist with the defending champion's name on it - which is believed to have been outdated. The speculation would continue all the way up until the Slovenian team would be confirmed.
Read also
Primoz Roglic the new leader for Slovenia
After a stellar performance at the World Championships, where Roglic spent time on the attack together with the likes of Mathieu van der Poel and Quinn Simmons, his form has been proven to still be good.
With a fitting course featuring repeated steep climbs and the home crowd backing him up, Roglic could end up becoming one of the most dangerous contenders to win the title.
The Slovenian national team will also include Gal Glivar, Matevz Govekar, Luka Mezgec, Matej Mohoric, Jan Tratnik, Domen Novak and Jakob Omrzel. On the 7th of October, Roglic and Tratnik will also compete in the time trial event.
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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- 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
- I can see you are also hurting on the inside, just like 3/4 of all americans. Your president and his maga voters are cheaters. It aint my fault.PogiSloFans30-09-2026
- I made that comment and was being half facetious. Ciccone is complaining that people let him just ride and didnt work to catch him. well, maybe their legs were dead and they couldn’t work.mij30-09-2026
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