Reflections from the European Championships – Seven things we learned at the second week of national team racing

The UEC Road European Championships were held a week after the Rwanda Road World Championships, sparking some logistical challenges for riders and teams but creating an extra week of entertaining national team riding.

The winners were largely as expected, but the racing was still great to watch, with displays of superiority by Tadej Pogačar, Demi Vollering, Remco Evenepoel, Marlen Reusser, along with Jarno Widar in the under-23 men's road race and Paula Ostiz in the junior women's road race.

Sadly, many of the riders will never get to race in the unique white, blue-striped and gold star jersey because they are also world champions or changing category for 2026, but all are worthy winners.

These are the things we learnt from the 2025 UEC European Championships.

Allez the French crowds but not the French hooligans

The European Championships were organised by Guillaume Delpech, his team of expert volunteers, the UEC and race experts Golazo, creating a unique and friendly atmosphere.

As L'Equipe explained, Delpech created a race to remember his father. It evolved into the Faun-Ardèche Classic and Faun Drôme Classic races, and is now part of the European Championships.

The French cycling fans turned out as always, with thousands of people packing the two climbs of the road racing circuits on the weekend. They filled the roadside and applauded the riders like on a Tour de France mountain finish.

Sadly, the behaviour of a few went too far, with some touching Tadej Pogačar when on the attack and even stickering him in some. French crowds love cycling, but in recent years, a new 'hooligan' generation has emerged. Let's hope they learn to respect the riders.

Tadej Pogačar's physical and mental dominance

Tadej Pogačar again did what Tadej Pogačar always does and dominated the men's road race with another solo attack.

This time, he went solo with 75km to go. He had planned to wait, but when Belgium and France distanced his Slovenian teammates, he knew he had to draw out and attack his rivals to avoid a later tactical battle.

It was a simple tactic but Pogačar again pulled it off, out riding Evenepoel and the group of four chasers that rode against each, already defeated and thinking about the podium places. Pogačar's dominance is both physical and mental.

Remco Evenepoel - the best of the rest

Remco Evenepoel had hoped to take on Pogačar with the support of a strong Belgian team. He deserves admiration for his courage and determination. He won the time trial title and was again second in the road race.

"He's a phenomenon. He's almost playing a different sport. I've never seen such a difference," Belgian national coach Serge Pauwels said, putting Evenepoel's recent performances in the proper context.

"If you take Pogačar out of the equation, you could almost say the same about Evenepoel. He is very, very good right now, but there's one step above him."

Demi Vollering is back to her best

The women's Netherlands team celebrated together on the podium after the women's road race, forgetting the tensions and disputes of the past and lifting winner Demi Vollering and bronze medallist Anna van der Breggen in the air.

Vollering revealed that her period had affected her performance at the World Championships, but she was back to her best at the European Championships.

She rode away from her rivals on the climb and won alone as she often has done. Van der Breggen played a loyal team role and then sportingly refused to sprint against Kasia Niewiadoma after sitting on her wheel.

"Sometimes I try to do too well and too much, like last year at the World Championships in Zurich, but it all went wrong. I decided to let go of that more and discussed it with Laurens Ten Dam. Now everything fell into place," Vollering explained.

Paul Seixas really could be France's next great thing

Paul Seixas is perhaps not a new name to Cyclingnews readers, but his third place in the men's road race was his latest consecration as one of the future greats of the sport and perhaps, just perhaps, France's next Tour de France winner.

Seixas only turned 19 two weeks ago and is in his first season as a WorldTour professional, but he is showing all the signs of greatness. Fortunately, he also has the maturity and broad shoulders to handle all the hype.

He, not Pogačar, was the headline story on the front page of L'Equipe, with the French newspaper rightly celebrating his success. He will surely make his Tour debut in 2026, with the expectations only rising. Allez Paul.

The future looks bright

Young riders are merging earlier than ever in cycling, creating a refreshing change in the men's and women's peloton and indicating that some great future talents are sure to emerge in the years to come.

We now finally have a separate race for under-23 women, and the junior races are a far more accurate indicator of the future.

We can all get excited about double European winner and world champion Paula Ostiz, under-23 Jarno Widar and even junior men's road race winner Karl Herzog. Most major teams now have development programmes in place that will help them develop their talents.

Make the European Championships a summer event

Placing the European Championships a week after the world championships makes an interesting block of racing, but just think how good it could be if both championships were held in August.

Riders had to dash back from Rwanda to compete in France, and in 2026, they will travel from the Worlds in Montreal, Canada, to race at the European Championships in Slovenia.

Surely the Vuelta can start a week or two later and so avoid a Championship clash with the end-of-season races. Creating a coherent, logical, and sustainable racing calendar should not be that difficult.