Pogacar vs Vingegaard vs Evenepoel, what can we expect from the European?

Throughout the week, speculations about what will happen next Sunday at the 2025 European Cycling Championship, a race in which Jonas Vingegaard, Tadej Pogacar, and Remco Evenepoel arrive in top form and with high aspirations, have been a recurring topic of conversation in cycling circles.

The three-way battle looming at the 2025 European Cycling Championship

It is difficult to predict what we will see and how the road race that will close the 2025 European Cycling Championship on Sunday, October 5th will unfold. A race that takes place on a route of just over 200 kilometers but with tremendous difficulty due to the repeated climbs up the wall that is the Val d'Efer pass, which will be ascended 6 times, and in the middle of the route, the two ascents to the Moulin a Vent pass.

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A course that mixes the explosiveness of the walls found in the Belgian classics with the steep gradients and long climbs that cyclists encounter in races like Liege or Lombardy.

With these premises on the table, it is clear that of the three top favorites: Pogacar, Evenepoel, and Vingegaard, the two who defend themselves best on this terrain are the Belgian and the Slovenian, who have a large number of victories in one-day races in their palmares. A type of race in which Jonas Vingegaard himself has acknowledged his lesser ability to perform at his best in these races and which have usually been overlooked by the Dane in favor of stage races.

However, Vingegaard finished La Vuelta strong and, after a season in which he has not competed excessively, he still has the hunger to seek a good result before hanging up the "closed for vacation" sign. He has the legs and the class to be at the front.

In any case, we cannot forget the exhibition that Tadej Pogacar gave just a few days ago at the World Championships in Kigali, launching an attack 100 kilometers from the finish, to which Remco Evenepoel was unable to respond, and those who did, Del Toro and Juan Ayuso, paid dearly for their audacity by exploding shortly after and having to suffer greatly to enter the top 10.

However, the fact that the toughness of the 2025 European Championship route remains practically until the end instead of being far from the finish as it was in the World Championships makes it less likely that we will see such a distant attack. Besides, we must also consider the distance factor since just over 200 kilometers are more accessible for a greater number of cyclists.

Our bet is that we may see a significant selection around 70 km to the conclusion, when the third and final ascent to the Col du Moulin a Vent is made, before entering the final circuit with the repeated climbs up the Val d'Efer wall, where for sure, with one or two laps to go, we will see the decisive move towards victory. Whether it will be Tadej Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel, Jonas Vingegaard, or another unexpected cyclist is a question that we will only resolve next Sunday.