Men's European Championship ITT Preview: Can anyone stop Remco Evenepoel?

Date: Wednesday, 1 October
Length: 24km
Elevation gain: 200m
Start: 15:45 (CET)
Startlist: available here

Looking for the women’s preview? You can find it here.

The route for both the elite men's and women's individual time trial is 24km in length, featuring 200 metres of elevation gain, with a climb inside the closing kilometres. 

It begins in Loriol-sur-Drôme, a small French town that hosted the start of stage 6 of the 2021 Critérium du Dauphiné, which was won in an uphill sprint by Alejandro Valverde.

Heading out of the town and in the east direction, the first 8km are on fast main roads along the D-104 running parallel to the Drôme river.

After the 8km mark, the route reaches a roundabout where the riders will turn left and head north on the D-125. Just shy of the 10km mark, the riders will pass over a bridge which crosses the Drôme river.

The next couple of kilometres are straightforward before the route passes through the town of Allex, which features one of the more technical sections on the route.

From km 13 until km 22, the route continues on long, straightforward sections of road with a couple of turns breaking each stretch of road up, but it is another key section to put the power down and stay aero. 

The riders will need to keep enough back for the finale, which sees the road rise for 1.1km with an average gradient of 5.2% which takes the riders just a few hundred metres from the finish in Étoile-sur-Rhône, where the gradients plateau. 

There are some important corners inside the final km, meaning that differences can still be made right until the line in Étoile-sur-Rhône. 

Étoile-sur-Rhône has hosted the finish of the one-day race, the Faun Drôme Classic, since 2022, with Juan Ayuso soloing to victory in the most recent edition back in March.

Strong winds are expected in the Rhône Valley, with averages around 30 km/h and gusts up to 60 km/h. During the opening 8 km the riders will mainly face crosswinds, before the course turns into sections of headwind and cross-headwind. The open roads leave little shelter, so the conditions are likely to play a major role. Aerodynamics will be a decisive factor.

The field for the elite men’s time trial isn’t particularly big, as is often the case at the Euros, but it’s packed with quality based on the start list, despite the absence of reigning champion Edoardo Affini (Italy).

Fresh off winning the time trial World Championships in Kigali, Rwanda, with a storming ride, Remco Evenepoel (Belgium) will be the favourite to take the victory in the Drôme-Ardèche.

Evenepoel was victorious in his debut in the event back in 2019, and in his last appearance in 2021, he ended 3rd.

The Belgian has proven his pedigree time and time again, with his aero capabilities and power, and the uphill ramp to the finish should also give him an advantage over the rouleur-type riders.

Perhaps Evenepoel’s biggest challenge will be the short turnaround from the world championships, having finished 2nd in an arduous road race on Sunday, so it remains to be seen if the Belgian recovers in time. The other riders will be hoping that this has an impact on the Belgian, as he will be hard to beat otherwise with his current form.

Alec Segaert (Belgium) is the other representative for the nation, and the 22-year-old is currently on a three-year winning streak as European time trial champion in the under-23 category. After a solid Vuelta a España, Segaert could make the step up and podium in the elite category if he has exceptional legs.

Interestingly,despite being a two-time world champion, Filippo Ganna (Italy) has never won the individual time trial at the European Championships. 

Having last appeared in 2022 after a 3rd place finish, Ganna will be well prepared after choosing to skip the World Championships. 

It could be really tight between him and Evenepoel if the Belgian isn’t fully recovered from his exploits in Africa, but the Italian will need to maximise his advantage on the power sections, if he is going to win. Ganna is joined by former under-23 world champion Lorenzo Milesi (Italy), who last month finished 2nd on the final stage time trial at the Tour de Pologne.

Josh Tarling (Great Britain) is a former champion in this event, having claimed the title with a fine performance in Emmen, Netherlands, in 2023. The 21-year-old Brit has endured a difficult summer battling on the road to recovery after a back injury caused by a crash at the Giro d’Italia in May.

He has raced twice since then in two Belgian one-day races, but it’s difficult to gauge where his level will be coming into this event. However, with two wins out of three starts in time trials in 2025, including his first Grand Tour stage win, a fit and healthy Tarling is without doubt one of the favourites for gold.

Tarling won’t be his nation's only hope of a medal as Ethan Hayter (Great Britain) has enjoyed plenty of recent success in the discipline. 

In fact, with three wins in his last three starts, including the national championships and beating Filippo Ganna at the Baloise Belgium Tour in June, there’s no reason why Hayter can’t come into this event with high ambitions and thinking of making a statement with a podium finish.

Switzerland boasts two former winners in Stefan Küng and Stefan Bissegger, who always seem to show up at the Europeans. At least one of them has been on the podium for the last five editions. Will it become six on Wednesday?

Daan Hoole (Netherlands) picked up his first Grand Tour stage win at the Giro d’Italia in May, illustrating improvements in his time trial ability. Last year, he finished 4th, and although tomorrow isn’t as simple as being raced on paper, Hoole could make another step up and reach the podium. 

The powerful Dylan Van Baarle (Netherlands) joins Hoole in representing the Netherlands, his first appearance since 2018.

João Almeida (Portugal) pins a number on for the first time since finishing 2nd at the Vuelta a España, and the 27-year-old finished 10th in his only previous appearance in 2021. He will be joined by the experienced Nelson Oliveira (Portugal), who finished 4th in 2016 and 6th in 2023.

He's not renowned for his time trial ability and is making his debut in the event at the European Championships, but Mads Pedersen (Denmark) is a modern-day galactico and can turn his hand to most things that he wants to, and is the current national champion. 

Another recently crowned world champion is Jakob Söderqvist (Sweden), who dominated the under-23 category in Kigali, Rwanda. We have seen young riders step up and make a big mark in this event in recent editions, such as Remco Evenepoel in 2019 and Josh Tarling in 2022. Could Söderqvist be the next in line to make a statement? 

The host nation has Rémi Cavagna (France) and Bruno Armirail (France) set to line up. Armirail’s best performance was 12th in 2023, but based on his Vuelta shape, he could improve on that significantly, whilst Cavagna was runner-up in 2022. The host nation is an outsider for a medal but remains with a solid chance.

Fellow Lidl-Trek rider Mathias Vacek (Czech Republic) will fly the flag for his nation as a sole representative. The versatile Czech, as ever, is one to keep an eye on; meanwhile, Max Walscheid (Germany) is often a solid performer and could crack the top 10.