Dutch dominance and Italian heartbreak at European Road Cycling Championships in Slovenia
Demi Vollering of the Netherlands claimed her first European title in the women's elite road race on 3 October, attacking on the Možjanca climb with 14.6 km remaining and crossing the line alone in 3:10:33. The victory comes just one week after she won her first rainbow jersey at the 2025 World Championships in Canada.
Her compatriot Puck Pieterse took silver and Switzerland's Marlen Reusser bronze, both decided in a sprint ahead of Italy's Elisa Longo Borghini, who finished fourth. Poland's Kasia Niewiadoma, silver medallist at the Worlds, crashed a few kilometres from the finish and placed sixth.
For Longo Borghini, the result ends a remarkable run of form. The Italian rider took bronze in the road race at the 2025 World Championships in Montreal, behind Vollering and Niewiadoma, and also won gold in the mixed relay and finished fourth in the time trial at the same event.
A historic season for the new European champion
Vollering's 2025 campaign ranks among the greatest individual seasons in women's cycling. She won the Giro d'Italia Women in June, overturning a 49-second deficit to Anna van der Breggen on the final stage around Saluzzo, then claimed the Tour de France Femmes with victory on the final stage over the Col d'Èze above Nice.
The 26-year-old has also won Liegi-Bastogne-Liegi, the Giro delle Fiandre and Freccia Vallone. The European title adds another major prize to a collection that now includes the Tour de France (twice), the Giro d'Italia, the World Championship and the European Championship.
Evenepoel denies Ciccone in photofinish thriller
Remco Evenepoel became the first cyclist in history to complete the set of national, European, world and Olympic titles in both the road race and individual time trial when he edged out Giulio Ciccone in a dramatic photofinish on 4 October.
The Belgian and the Italian from Abruzzo broke clear with 37 km remaining on the 196.3 km course from Lubiana to Sencur. Ciccone, refusing to collaborate for several kilometres, sat on Evenepoel's wheel and launched his sprint from the better line through the final corner, opening what looked like a winning gap.
Evenepoel's desperate bike throw on the line proved decisive. The judges needed several minutes to confirm the Belgian had won by millimetres, ending Italy's five-year wait for a podium place in this event.
"Honestly, I felt I had passed Ciccone, so I thought I had made it, but you never know," Evenepoel said after the finish. "I'm really extremely happy and proud of this result. It's a great relief to get back to a good level today and complete my collection of champion jerseys."
Italy returns to the podium
Christian Scaroni claimed bronze, finishing 59 seconds behind the leading pair, with Latvia's Toms Skujiņš fourth at 1'13". The double podium marks Italy's first medals in the men's elite road race since Sonny Colbrelli's victory in 2021.
Italy dominated the event between 2018 and 2021 with four consecutive victories — Matteo Trentin (2018), Elia Viviani (2019), Giacomo Nizzolo (2020) and Colbrelli (2021) — before a four-year podium drought. Evenepoel succeeds Tadej Pogačar of Slovenia on the honour roll.
Ciccone accepted the result after viewing the photofinish images. The Italian, known for his climbing prowess, had launched what appeared to be a race-winning sprint before Evenepoel's final surge. The silver medal represents his first podium at a major one-day championship.
