Preview European Cycling Championships - men 2025 | Rwanda stars Pogacar and Evenepoel face a "fresh" Vingegaard
CyclingThursday, 02 October 2025 at 14:36
The average tourist would spend three days on the couch after a trip to Rwanda, but a whole bunch of World Championship participants will be competing on Sunday in the European Cycling Championships in Drôme-Ardèche. Add to that several fresh competitors who deliberately skipped the World Championships, and you have a road race for elite men that has never been so well attended at a European championship. IDLProCycling.com offers a detailed preview.
Practical information European Cycling Championships 2025 - men
- Sunday, Oct. 5, Guilherand-Granges (France)
- Participants
- Classification: European Championship
In this article
- Latest winners
- Parcous, weather and times
- Favorites
- TV information
Latest winners European Cycling Championships 2025 - men
2024 Tim Merlier
2023 Christophe Laporte
2022 Fabio Jakobsen
2021 Sonny Colbrelli
2020 Giacomo Nizzolo
2019 Elia Viviani
2018 Matteo Trentin
2017 Alexander Krisfoff
2016 Peter Sagan
2023 Christophe Laporte
2022 Fabio Jakobsen
2021 Sonny Colbrelli
2020 Giacomo Nizzolo
2019 Elia Viviani
2018 Matteo Trentin
2017 Alexander Krisfoff
2016 Peter Sagan
European Cycling Championships 2025 - men: Course, weather and times
After perhaps the toughest World Championships in cycling ever, the riders in France will also have a tough race ahead of them. The elite men will cover 202.5 kilometers, starting in Privas and finishing in Guilherand-Granges. Unlike the World Championships, the European Road Race Championship features a notable run-up, including the Col du Moulin à Vent (4.0 kilometers at 5.1 percent) from the start.
After a fast descent, we race towards the finish line, which we pass for the first time after 47.5 kilometers. The men then complete three larger laps, including the climb of Saint-Romain-de-Lerps (7.0 kilometers at 7.2 percent) and the Val d'Enfer (1.6 kilometers at 9.7 percent).
Continue reading below the photo!
Once we have completed the large loop three times and passed the finish line for the fourth time, the men will start the final stage after 151.5 kilometers. This will consist of three local laps on a smaller loop. The climbs of the Montée de Costebelle and the Val d'Enfer, which have already been climbed three times, will be central to this stage.
For the attentive viewer: the longer climbs are in the three larger laps, which makes an attack from far ahead interesting for the real climbers. Once on the local circuit, the punchers seem to have more of an advantage. We are familiar with the Val d'Enfer from the Faun-Ardèche Classic, which is preceded in the final stage by the Saint-Romain-de-Lerps. We will do that three times earlier on Sunday.
Continue reading below the photo!
Weather
When the men start from Privas on Sunday, it will be perfect racing weather with a temperature of around 14 degrees and sunshine. At the time of writing, the wind is forecast to be from the north, force 3 to 4. That means a headwind from the north, but if the wind changes direction, the first hour will be exciting...
When the men start from Privas on Sunday, it will be perfect racing weather with a temperature of around 14 degrees and sunshine. At the time of writing, the wind is forecast to be from the north, force 3 to 4. That means a headwind from the north, but if the wind changes direction, the first hour will be exciting...
The wind will also be strong in the local laps around Guilherand-Granges, but that will of course be less of a factor in hilly terrain. In fact, most of the climbs are with a north wind at your back. That looks promising for attackers! We will monitor the weather forecast daily and update it here if any changes occur.
Times
Start: 12:45 PM local time (06:45 AM EDT)
Finish: around 5 PM local time (11:00 AM EDT)
Start: 12:45 PM local time (06:45 AM EDT)
Finish: around 5 PM local time (11:00 AM EDT)
Favorites European Cycling Championships 2025 - men
The list of participants is not yet official, so this section is subject to change.
As mentioned, the European Cycling Championships have rarely had such a strong field of participants in the men's race, with virtually every major star present. Tadej Pogacar and Remco Evenepoel, the top two riders from the World Championships in Rwanda, will be competing. Pogacar was in a class of his own, with Evenepoel conceding a minute and a half despite two bike changes and other problems. The two seem evenly matched on a less demanding course.
Think of Evenepoel's victories in Liège-Bastogne-Liège, a race that Pogacar has of course also won many times. Think of the challenging big loop, in which three laps can really make a big difference. And think of the final, in which Pogacar and Evenepoel will have to punch each other to break away, because the longer climbs are missing.
Continue reading below the photo!
Tadej Pogacar
The first rider we will see in his national jersey is Jonas Vingegaard. The winner of the Vuelta a España skipped the World Championships and should therefore be fresher, having avoided a long trip to Africa and a time trial and grueling road race in his legs. The Dane must be considered capable of competing with Pogacar and Evenepoel, as he has been doing for years in the Tour de France.
The big question is: is Vingegaard killer enough to finish it off in the final? Because the men's races in recent years have often been about the best riders, we are putting Vingegaard forward. And if he still has the explosiveness he showed in the Tour and Vuelta, he could well turn out to be the best of the day in France.
Continue reading below the photo!
Jonas Vingegaard
Behind the big three, there are a lot of challengers. From the World Championships, number three Ben Healy is basically out, but number five Mattias Skjelmose forms a dangerous duo with Vingegaard. The Dane was just unable to keep up with the accelerations in Rwanda, but will find a more suitable course in France. The same goes for World Championship fifth-place finisher Toms Skujins.
Pavel Sivakov and Paul Seixas rode flat out in the final at the World Championships. Juan Ayuso even finished in the top ten after trying to follow Pogacar and exploding on the cobbles. In France, there is only asphalt, and Ayuso knows the roads well from the Faun-Ardèche Classic, which he won in 2024.
Continue reading below the photo
Juan Ayuso
However, dangerous outsiders for the European Championships are mainly men who did not compete in the World Championships and have put everything into the European Championships. In that respect, France may have much more to gain from the in-form Romain Grégoire. And the Danes will have to see if they can outride Mads Pedersen once again. For Italy, Christian Scaroni is in form, with men like Filippo Ganna and Alberto Bettiol in his wake.
Other strong contenders? We are very curious to see how João Almeida has recovered from the Vuelta, following his second-place finish there. Lukas Kubis (Slovakia) and Mathias Vacek (Czech Republic) will sell their skin dearly, and the Swiss are counting on Marc Hirschi, Jan Christen, and Mauro Schmid as their top trio. And the Netherlands? They have a very talented outsider in Tibor Del Grosso.
Who are the favorites for the European Cycling Championships 2025 - men, according to IDLProCycling.com?
Top favorites: Tadej Pogacar (Slovenia) and Remco Evenepoel (Belgium)
Outsiders: Jonas Vingegaard, Mattias Skjelmose (Denmark), Juan Ayuso (Spain), Romain Grégoire (France) and Toms Skujins (Latvia)
Longshots: Pavel Sivakov, Paul Seixas (France), Mads Pedersen (Denmark), Christian Scaroni, Alberto Bettiol (Italy), João Almeida (Portugal), Mathias Vacek (Czech Republic), Marc Hirschi, Jan Christen as well as Mauro Schmid (Switzerland) and Tibor Del Grosso (Netherlands)
Outsiders: Jonas Vingegaard, Mattias Skjelmose (Denmark), Juan Ayuso (Spain), Romain Grégoire (France) and Toms Skujins (Latvia)
Longshots: Pavel Sivakov, Paul Seixas (France), Mads Pedersen (Denmark), Christian Scaroni, Alberto Bettiol (Italy), João Almeida (Portugal), Mathias Vacek (Czech Republic), Marc Hirschi, Jan Christen as well as Mauro Schmid (Switzerland) and Tibor Del Grosso (Netherlands)
TV broadcast European Cycling Championships 2025 - men
If you want to see the entire European Championship race for men, tune in to HBO Max at 11:35 AM local time. Eurosport 2 will only be available on TV behind a paywall from 3:00 PM local time. The VRT will start broadcasting at 1:30 PM local time, while the NOS will broadcast from the start, but only online. You can watch it on TV from noon local time on NPO.
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Latest Comments
- What the data doesn't show is how much of an effect drafting had for evenepoel. Pogacar went with del toro at 100km whilst Evenepoel was still in the bunch. Despite the bike changes he still had a lot of assistance getting back to the bunch. Pogacar then rode 60km solo whilst evenepoel rode with Healy/Skjelmose until going solo in thd last 10-15km. Thats ~20% less power / energy requirements for 45-50km. Apples and oranges...kevpt30-09-2025
- 👏👏Bea24-09-2025
- Agreed! As we all know now, Juan Ayuso will be on another team. But it was sweet to see him win the stages at La Vuelta. I do love the drama of cycling admittedly but its clear to see the talent of winners of stages in a Grand Tourryhw2814fq921-09-2025
- Pogacar has no competition he has won everything, I cant imagine even being him in that position!! Crazy. I am sure he has some back up plan for how he wants to spend his retirement years at age 30 onward. Does he like beer? Plenty of innovation in brewing. And you don't have to be super social. Chapeau/Cheers whatever you like Tadej you will do.ryhw2814fq921-09-2025
- Plus its confirmed that the Philadelphia Cycling Classic up the Manayunk Wall is back for 2026! hooray for thatryhw2814fq918-09-2025
- This is a dumb question but still why doesn't the UCI consider a grand tour in the USA in the future. We have the desolate/scary back roads in Pennsylvania and Virginia, just like in France with loads of rural land and hills. Plus the Rocky Mountains in Colorado and the Cascade/Olympic Mountains in Washington State. I'm sure it'll never happen but honestly people in PA/NJ/NY/VT/NH would love it. We are already sports fans, what is another sport to learn. I am forever optimistic about cycling in the US.ryhw2814fq918-09-2025
- Zonneveld makes some excellent points.The sponsorship model is broken and companies like Verizon who have multi billion dollar with a B ad budgets need to be involved again.
Brucegel17-09-2025 - Roger Vlaeminck says Mads is not a good rider? Where is the headline saying you don't even have to be a good rider to win the World Road Championship says Roger Vlaeminck, who never won it!!? Perhaps his aging mind needs to think about what the heck he's saying.packfiller7103-09-2025
- Wow, there is so much criticism of the UAE XRG riders. Why so much criticism is being leveled solely at the riders is baffling. The UAE XRG management deserves a good amount of the criticism aimed at the team, as a whole. They have not managed the talent they have at all. They failed miserably to properly handle young Isaac del Toro on that penultimate day of the Giro. And they have not handled Juan Ayuso well either. If they didn't have Tadej Pogacar in their roster, we might not be talking about them as winners, at all. So many think that Ayuso has shown that he is not a "team" player at all. Does anybody think that he might be thinking about his own future at this point? That he might want to feel like the team has his back, when they load the pressure onto him? And Joao is not a team leader. That burden might be laid on him by the management, but they need to properly support that assignment, not make it a contentious situation, within the team. And then how management has conducted themselves throughout this parting of ways between themselves and Ayuso has been totally indiscreet. And yet people want to pile onto Ayuso when he tells the truth about the manner that this is all soap opera is developing. He wants out. He shouldn't be getting so much negative criticism for that. It's a situation that has soured. Yes he has a contract, but he is not the first, nor will he be the last that wants to get out of a relationship that just isn't working anymore. And DeCauwer seems to have very vague reasons for criticizing Almeida. He does realize that Jonas is the second best Grand Tour rider of this current generation, so it should be no shame that Joao is behind him in the standings. Riders are giving their all in an extremely difficult sport that stretches them, often beyond their limits. Now many are wanting to send them to Behavioral School as well? The criticism ought to mellow out, or it ought to simply be ignored, as nothing more than blah, blah, blah, not worth the headlines it gets
reemmo002-09-2025 - In 5yrs, Pogi will be a top Twitch streamer living on baked goods while Urska is still racing.Veganpotter11-08-2025
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