Tadej Pogacar is unstoppable. Just one week after claiming the world title in Rwanda, the Slovenian superstar crushed the European Championship in France, riding away from the field to take his first-ever continental crown.

Belgian Pressure And Vingegaard’s Early Exit

The race exploded early on the Saint-Romain-de-Lerps climb. Belgian attacks tried to shake things up, with Remco Evenepoel testing the favorites and Jonas Vingegaard already in trouble more than 100 kilometers from the finish. The Danish two-time Tour de France winner slid out the back of the main group and never recovered.

When the real move came, it was Pogacar who lit the fuse. With 76 kilometers still to ride, he stood on the pedals and simply rode away. Evenepoel tried to follow but cracked under the brutal pace. From there, Pogacar was gone, powering up the climbs from the saddle and extending his lead on every ramp.

Evenepoel And Seixas Settle For The Podium

Evenepoel led the chase with France’s 19-year-old prodigy Paul Seixas, Spain’s Juan Ayuso and Italy’s Christian Scaroni. They worked well together at first but could not bring the Slovenian back. By the time the final climbs were done, Pogacar was a minute clear and on his way to Slovenia’s first-ever European road title.

Evenepoel finished second yet again, adding another silver medal to his bursting spring haul. Seixas grabbed a breakout bronze for France. But the day belonged to Pogacar, who proved once again that when he unleashes his power, the rest can only watch.

"I saw I was losing teammates, it wasn't the plan to go from there, but it had to be there, it was the hardest hill and that was my advantage there," Pogacar said after the race.

As Pogacar opened a one-minute lead, Evenepoel teamed up with French 19-year-old Seixas to lead the resistance, joined by Spain's Juan Ayuso and Italy's Christian Scaroni. As Pogacar's lead extended, Evenepoel accelerated away in pursuit of the cycling superstar, who signed a reported $54 million six-year contract last November with UAE Team Emirates.

"Second place again," said Evenepoel, who also came in behind Pogacar at the world title race in Kigali last Sunday. "It's always the same at the championships, the others didn't want to work with me," he said. "It's a bit frustrating but they had their team orders, you have to accept it."

Paul Seixas Takes Bronze As Pogacar Cements Dominance

Evenepoel won the European time trial and the world championship time trial this year, while he capped 2024 with the road and time trial titles at the Paris Olympic Games.

Behind them Scaroni and Seixas dueled for third, with the emerging Frenchman given raucous support as he eventually dropped the dogged Italian. France team coach Thomas Voeckler was visibly delighted with the bronze.

"There's a lot of noise around him, and it's understandable. What he just did was massive. Let him develop, and we'll see how far he goes," he said of Seixas.

Seixas was the youngest man in the field, a week after coming 13th at the worlds in Kigali.