Peerless Pogacar adds European Championships to Worlds with 75km solo

Rinse and repeat. Tadej Pogačar has added the European Championships title to last week’s rainbow jersey defence after his latest astonishing long-range solo effort.

The Slovenian spent the last 75km alone at the head of the race, rolling home in Guilherand-Granges with 31 seconds in hand on Remco Evenepoel (Belgium), who replicated his silver medal performance from Kigali a week ago.

19-year-old Paul Seixas (France) claimed bronze after he dropped Christian Scaroni (Italy) and Juan Ayuso (Spain) on the final ascent of the Val d'Enfer. 

The decisive move here came on the climb of the Côte de Saint-Romain-de-Lense with 76km to go, when Pogačar launched a fierce attack. Only Evenepoel could match his initial acceleration, but the Belgian was forced to sit up a kilometre later.

Pogacar was alone in front with 75km still to race, and although Evenepoel was later joined by Seixas, Ayuso and Scaroni in a strong chasing group, the final result was never in doubt.

There were distinct shades of Kigali about the whole endeavour. Pogačar’s lead was more than half a minute atop the final ascent of the Côte de Saint-Romain-de-Lense, and although Evenepoel’s impetus helped narrow the gap on the flat, headwind section that followed, his advantage stretched inexorably outwards on the repeated ascents of Val d’Enfer on the final laps of the race.

With 65km to go, Evenepoel et al. had closed to within 23 seconds, but Pogačar increased his buffer on the first of the four final ascents of the Val d’Enfer, and he continued to run up the score on the laps that followed.

By the next time up the climb, with 40km to go, Pogačar was 1:10 clear of the chasers. Evenepoel, frustrated by the lack of help in the chasing group, attacked alone near the top of the ascent, but like in Kigali a week ago, it was clear that he was already racing for silver rather than competing to topple Pogačar.

With two laps to go, Evenepoel was 1:03 down and he gamely set about trying to narrow that advantage in the final 34km, but Pogačar held firm. The gap was still above a minute as Pogačar took the bell. Like in Kigali, he could enjoy a lap of honour en route to gold.

The early climb of the Col du Moulin à Vent presented a springboard for early attackers, and the day’s first break featured Mathias Vacek (Czech Republic). The move would expand to fourteen riders over the first ascent of the Côte de Saint-Romain-de-Lense, with Evenpoel’s teammate Louis Vervaeke among the escapees.

That move held a lead of a minute or so over the Slovenian-led peloton on the second time up the Côte de Saint-Romain-de-Lense, and this was where the race began to take shape. Domen Novak’s turn of pace-making surprisingly proved too much for Jonas Vingegaard (Denmark), who was distanced with 109km to go.

Vingegaard had lined up among the favourites, but the three-week lay-off since the Vuelta a España had clearly not been kind, and he abandoned the next time the race passed through the finish line.

At the top of the Côte de Saint-Romain-de-Lense, meanwhile, Pavel Sivakov (France) tested the waters, and it was striking that Evenepoel, Pogačar, Ayuso and Seixas were among those to follow as the bunch splintered into shards.

That elite group would bridge up to the remnants of the break on the second climb of the Val d’Enfer with 92km, where Evenepoel put in a wicked acceleration that Pogačar was careful to follow.

That left a group of 23 riders in front as the race hit the Côte de Saint-Romain-de-Lense for the third and final time. Evenepoel still had Vervaeke and Stef Cras for company, while Pogačar was now bereft of teammates. 

Not for the first time in these circumstances, Pogačar elected to make this a head-to-head battle. He accelerated with intent with 76km to go. Evenepoel held his wheel for a kilometre or so before he relented. 

From there, the script was familiar and so was the ending.