Primož Roglič wins the European Time Trial Championships on home soil

Primož Roglič has been crowned European Time Trial Champion 2026. The Slovenian took advantage of a course that perfectly suited his characteristics to win the 22.1 kilometers of Šenčur and, at 36 years old, claim his first continental title against the clock. Bruno Armirail finished second just 6 seconds behind, and Maxime Decomble completed the podium.

The absence of reigning champion Remco Evenepoel and other great specialists like Filippo Ganna left the race particularly open, but Roglič asserted his status as the favorite and, above all, took advantage of the most demanding part of the course to build his victory.

Roglič is European Time Trial Champion

The 22.1 kilometers of the time trial were the same that the rest of the category had faced a few hours earlier and included a total elevation gain of 367 meters. The main difficulty was found during the first part, with a climb of about two kilometers that had an average gradient of 10.2%. And it was precisely there that Roglič began to win the European title.

The Slovenian passed the first intermediate point, located at kilometer 8, with a time of 13:10.29. Bruno Armirail was already losing almost 13 seconds, Ilan Van Wilder was 15 seconds behind, and Maxime Decomble was 16 seconds back.

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The situation changed slightly in the second part. Armirail began to make up ground and, at the second control at kilometer 16.3, he had reduced his deficit to 9 seconds. The fight for gold was thus open heading into the final kilometers.

Roglič, however, managed to maintain his lead to cross the finish line with 28:16.61, surpassing Armirail by 6.58 seconds.

He did so despite a setback. After the race, the Slovenian explained that his radio stopped working after the first few kilometers, so he had to manage a good part of the time trial by feel and without references from the car.

“After a few kilometers the radio stopped working, so I had to race by intuition. Luckily, it didn’t cost me the European title. It’s nice to win here in front of my fans,” Roglič explained after the event.

France places two cyclists on the podium

Behind, Bruno Armirail was the one who came closest to threatening Roglič's victory. The Frenchman improved as the race went on and ended up taking silver just 6.58 seconds behind.

The surprise came with Maxime Decomble. The young Frenchman secured bronze 28.42 seconds behind the winner and left Ilan Van Wilder off the podium by just five seconds.

Stefan Küng, one of the big favorites before the start and a two-time European champion in the specialty, had to settle for fifth place, 35 seconds back. Kasper Asgreen was sixth, while Jakob Söderqvist, another medal contender after his fifth place at the World Championships, finished eighth.

Roglič thus adds another major time trial title to his palmarès. The Slovenian, Olympic champion in Tokyo, now achieves his first European Time Trial Championship, and he does it at home, in front of the Slovenian crowd.

Top 10 Men's European Time Trial Championship 2026

1. Primož Roglič (Slovenia) — 28:16.61
2. Bruno Armirail (France) — +6.58
3. Maxime Decomble (France) — +28.42
4. Ilan Van Wilder (Belgium) — +33.36
5. Stefan Küng (Switzerland) — +35.26
6. Kasper Asgreen (Denmark) — +44.91
7. Marco Frigo (Italy) — +55.36
8. Jakob Söderqvist (Sweden) — +55.73
9. Callum Thornley (Great Britain) — +56.16
10. Iván Romeo (Spain) — +57.45