UEC European Championships: Primož Roglič takes 'beautiful' victory to win his first European title on home roads

The cycling gods were smiling on Slovenia on Wednesday, with home rider Primož Roglič winning a close race and the UEC European title for the first time, on home soil.

Roglič set the fastest times at each of the intermediate time checks, coming 8km and 16km into the 22km race, eventually setting a time of 46:68. Behind the 36-year-old, Bruno Amirail was second, six seconds down, while his compatriot Maxime Decomble made it a good day for France, taking third place a further 22 seconds down.

Roglič put in a perfect display on the course’s fearsome climb to Možjanca, putting 13 seconds into Amirail, who had been the previous fastest rider. He then flew down the descent, losing time to the Frenchman at the second check and defending to the line.

Rogič benefitted from brilliant support on the course, heading to the top of the climb through a tunnel of Slovenian flags, describing the success as beautiful.

"It’s for me, but I think it's also for all the people, everyone out all these days, not just today. All the people that make it possible to have these Championships in Slovenia. So I think it's just beautiful to finish off this event for all of us," he said afterwards.

"I didn't have my radio. It went off in probably in the first kilometre of the of the race, so I was completely lost, [I] just did it on my feelings. But I definitely just put everything on the road, and luckily it was enough. So I'm really happy."

The men’s Elite TT at this year’s UEC European Road Championships marked the end of six days of racing, but the race lacked some of the discipline’s biggest names, with World Champion Remco Evenepoel and the other medalists from the Montreal Worlds, Filippo Ganna and Paul Seixas, both absent.

Indeed, the highest-placed World Championships rider taking the start was Jakob Söderqvist, the Swedish rider, the final rider down the start ramp. There were some big names racing Šenčur though, with Stefan Küng, Kasper Asgreen, Primož Roglič and the in-form Bruno Amirail all among the late starters.

The course was identical to the other time trial races this week, and the same 22km circuit which closed all the road races. Featuring the climb to Možjanca, it’s 2km averaging more than 10% gradient, and set to define the course.

Only 44 riders started Wednesday’s race, with Kosovan rider Albion Kastrati riding a road bike, the first and hitting the opening time check at the top of the climb, 8km into the course, in 16:54, though the second starter, Samet Bulut (Türkiye), was already closing in.

While Kastrati reached the 16.3km time check, and even the finish, first, behind him Portugal’s first rider, Tiago Antunes had hit the top of the climb more than three minutes faster, his ride heralding a series of new best times. The fastest of those went to local hero Roglič, the former Olympic champion, stopping the clock in 13:10, a time no one was able to beat.

Results

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