Preview European Championships Elite Women - Will the favourites be caught by surprise again?

Date: Saturday, 4 October
Length: 116.1km
Elevation gain: 1,570m
Start and finish time: 14:00 CET - around 17:00 CET

It’s a tough race from the get-go with the road immediately rising with the Col du Moulin à Vent before a prolonged flat period of around 40km, which will take the riders to the key circuit they will face twice. 

The riders will tackle the combo of the Montée de Costebelle and Val d'Enfer in what will serve as a preview lap of the crucial circuit, before a detour and completing a loop which tackles the Saint Roman de Lerps. 

Following this, the riders will head back to the circuit they have already completed once, which features the two steep climbs, with the summit of the final ascent of the Val d'Enfer with around 6km to the finish line in Guilherand-Granges, where the 2025 European road race champion will be crowned.

The riders will need to make sure they have warmed up in the neutralised rollout, because the road will rise from the flag drop. The Col du Moulin à Vent, which stands 4.2km in length, averaging 4.8% will likely see a big battle for the day's breakaway with the strong climbers coming to the fore. It's not the steepest climb that the riders will contend with throughout the route, but it's one of the longest, meaning that the battle for the breakaway could drag out if enough riders want to feature.

After tackling one loop of the Montée de Costebelle and Val d'Enfer combo, the riders will detour and take on what is the toughest test of the day. The Saint-Romain-de-Lerps is long enough at 6.7km and steep enough at 7.4% to split the race into pieces if an organised tempo is set. There's a good chance that the front of the race features a handful of select favourites at the summit of this climb, which is brutal considering what is to come. The start of this climb is particularly difficult, meaning that there should be a competitive battle for position in the preceding kilometres to reach the base in a good position.

In the elite men's road race preview for Domestique produced by Eritropoetina, which you can read here, the descent of the Saint-Romain-de-Lerps was highlighted as particularly technical. This could serve as an attack point for confident descenders who want to take an advantage into the final 30km.

It's comfortably the shortest categorised climb of the day, and in fact, it could arguably be described as a wall. Just shy of 300 metres in length, this test averages nearly 13% and features two hairpins. It's fair to say that if the legs aren't good or energy is running thin, the Mur de Costebelle will expose it. Even if riders hang on, the fact that the Val d'Enfer is only a few kilometres further down the road, with little chance to recover, means that this climb will have an important say on the outcome of the race.

On paper, the Val d'Enfer looks to be the climb that will most likely influence this race. At just short of a mile in length, the steep climb averages 10.2%, with maximum gradients of around 15%. 

The riders will tackle the combo of the Montee de Costebelle and Val d'Enfer once beforehand, in what will serve as a preview lap of the crucial circuit, before a detour and completing a loop which tackles the Saint Roman de Lerps. Following this, the riders will head back to the circuit they have already completed once, which features the two steep climbs, with the summit of the final ascent of the Val d'Enfer with around 6km to the finish line in Guilherand-Granges, where the 2025 European road race champion will be crowned.

If the fight for the European title remains in the balance following the final descent of the Val d'Enfer, it's likely to become a cagey and tactical battle on the flat roads to the finish in Guiilherand-Granges. If it comes to a sprint of sorts from a reduced group, the typical faster finishers should be at an advantage on this flat finish, though you can sometimes expect the unexpected after a brutal day in the saddle such as this.

There will be plenty of big names looking to seek vengeance after Canada’s Magdeleine Vallieres pulled off the mightiest of upsets at the World Championships last weekend in Kigali, Rwanda. Luckily for the Europeans, Vallieres won’t be able to pull off another shock, and you would think that the big-name favourites will not want to let another major opportunity slip from their fingers.

If it wasn't for Marta Bastianelli outsprinting Marianne Vos in the 2018 edition, the Dutch would be invincible heading into the 10th edition of the elite women’s road race at the European Championships, a staggering statistic, a Dutch dynasty if you like.

With eight victories in nine editions, the Netherlands have stamped their authority on this event and even more impressive is the fact that each win had been achieved with a different rider until Lorena Wiebes doubled up to take her second title twelve months ago.

However, this year, if the Dutch are to take the European jersey, it will have to be with a different rider than Wiebes, as the defending champion will forgo participation due to a lack of compatibility with the parcours on the menu.

Netherlands
Demi Vollering comes into the event as arguably the pre-race favourite with the amount of climbing on the menu, spearheading a supreme Dutch team in terms of strength and numbers.

Although it is not what she would have been hoping for, Vollering ended the World Championships as the best from the select group of favourites, sprinting to 7th, a consolation that the form is good. However, we have seen that there are many other factors which influence the outcome of a major championship event, such as the lack of radio, national team cooperation, early attacks and much more, meaning that it’s very difficult sometimes for the pre-race favourite to succeed, unless one is able to take a leaf out of Tadej Pogačar’s book. 

Like for many, the Val d’Enfer feels like the best place for Vollering to make a difference, but it’s important for the Dutch that the 28-year-old is at the front when she launches a potential attack rather than being behind strong groups of riders who are well in front who have anticipated the favourites, like what happened at the World Championships.

Anna van der Breggen and Mischa Bredewold are both former champions, and both are former trade teammates of Vollering. It will be interesting to see if they work with Vollering in terms of pacing and controlling attacks, or whether they will be used as satellite riders in any early moves. Shirin van Anrooij and Riejanne Markus were on the move at the World Championships, and it would be no surprise to see more combative performances from this duo. 

Meanwhile, Pauliena Rooijakkers, Femke De Vries, and Femke Gerritse round out an incredibly strong squad and could all have an important part to say if the Dutch are to defend their title. The key will be if they can put their differences aside and work together for another collective victory at the European Championships.

Italy
On paper, Elisa Longo Borghini is arguably the biggest threat to more Dutch dominance in this event. After all, the only previous non-Dutch winner was an Italian in Bastianelli. Longo Borghini will be difficult to drop on the climbs, and is not a rider to take to the finish line. Interestingly, Longo Borghini hasn't raced the Euros since 2021, but the Italian is often in the mix during in the major championships and would be hard to begrudge as a potential winner on Saturday.

A bonus for Longo Borghini is that Eleonora Camilla Gasparrini, Silvia Persico and Erica Magnaldi are all trade teammates of the 33-year-old, meaning that cooperation won't be an issue. Also, Barbora Malcotti is in a rich vein of form and finished 18th in the World Championships, while Soraya Paladin is also a strong rider. For the Italian's a smart race is required to topple the Dutch, and they will know not to let themselves get caught out in the event that Longo Borghini gets stuck in the favourites group while a satellite group ahead takes the spoils. They have riders who can be placed in these groups to deter the threat of missing out.

France
With the late withdrawal of Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, the French squad will have to look elsewhere in their ranks in the quest for European success on home soil. The French missed out completely on the top 10 in the World Championships, with Juliette Labous ending 13th. Labous has illustrated good form, however, ending just seconds from the main favourites group. The French are likely to have success from anticipating the Dutch, with Cédrine Kerbaol, Évita Muzic, and Marion Bunel all great options to have. 

Switzerland
Switzerland often feel like the dark horses when it comes to major championship road races, and once more has a squad capable of making a big impact. Marlen Reusser has already picked up the time trial title on Wednesday, just as she did at the World Championships a week prior. 

Elise Chabbey is perhaps better suited to the climbs present in Sunday’s road race with a more punchy style, and the 32-year-old was combative in the World Championships alongside Reusser, settling for 4th and 9th, respectively. Noemi Rüegg was also combative in the Worlds and presents another card for a strong Swiss team.

Poland
Kasia Niewiadoma will lead the line for Poland and will be one of the likely animators on the Val d’Enfer, where she can make a significant difference. The 31-year-old has previously finished 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in the European road race and will be dreaming of adding the final top position to her collection, and based on finishing alongside Vollering at the Worlds in 10th, has the legs to give it a shot. Niewiadoma will be flanked by the likes of Marta Lach and Dominika Włodarczyk, who impressively finished 4th at the Tour de France Femmes in August.

Germany
Germany has multiple cards to play for a podium finish with former runner-up in 2021, Lianne Lippert, as well as Antonia Niedermaier, who finished 6th at the World Championships. Franziska Koch finished an impressive 12th at the World Championships.

Spain, Norway, Belgium
The combative Mireia Benito and the experienced veteran Mavi García, who finished 3rd at the World Championships, lead the Spanish challenge for a medal. Norway picked up two medals in the time trial, and Mie Bjørndal Ottestad, who finished 2nd, clearly is in good form. Lotte Claes and Margot Vanpachtenbeke are options for the Belgians.

Denmark, Sweden, Slovenia
Other riders to watch out for include Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Denmark), Caroline Andersson (Sweden), who finished 11th as part of the main favourites group at the World Championships and Urška Žigart (Slovenia), who was runner-up at the Tour de Romandie Féminin last month before a solid Worlds performance ending 23rd.