2025 UEC Road European Championships – Riders to watch
Pogačar versus Vingegaard is the big draw in the men’s road race on Sunday 5 October following their battle at the Tour de France.
The duo have won the past six Tours between them, and this year it was Pogačar who won a fourth title as Vingegaard finished second, more than four minutes back, before going on to win Vuelta a España in September.
All eyes will be on Pogačar’s output just a week after he stormed to world championship victory in Kigali, with Belgium’s two-time Olympic champ Remco Evenepoel and Vingegaard’s compatriot Mads Pedersen among those also out for victory on the 202.5km route from Privas to Guilherand-Granges.
In the women’s 116.1km road race, Spain’s Mavi Garcia will look to follow on from her world bronze last week.
Paris 2024 cross-country champion and Tour de France Femmes 2025 winner Pauline Ferrand-Prévot leads the French charge, while Demi Vollering is looking to bounce back from her disappointment at the Worlds.
The Dutch rider said her dream was “a little bit crushed” after finishing seventh in Rwanda, and in fact a host of other riders who narrowly missed out on that podium – Switzerland’s Elise Chabbey, the Netherlands’ Riejanne Markus and Germany’s Antonia Niedermaier – will also be going for gold on Saturday 4 October.