Slovenia's veteran cyclist claims European time trial crown in Šenčur
Slovenian veteran cyclist Primož Roglič has won the elite men's time trial title at the 2026 UEC Road European Championships. His victory on home soil marks Slovenia's first win in this event at the top European level.
Roglič, 36, built up his advantage during the first part of the 22km time trial, where he was able to show off his climbing skills on the Možjanca climb.
In the second part, he let up a bit, but managed to hold on to first place, CE Report quotes The Slovenia Times.
He beat Frenchman Bruno Armirail, who took home silver, by seven seconds, while Maxime Decomble, another Frenchman, rounded out the podium.
The race, the last event of the 2026 UEC Road European Championships, had been an open field since several time trial specialists such as Belgium's Remco Evenepoel, who won the European road race title, and Italy's Filippo Ganna were missing.
Missing throughout the championships was Slovenia's Tadej Pogačar, who is recovering from multiple injuries after his crash at the Vuelta a Espana.
Hopeful to return even stronger, the cycling ace made a public appearance at the home championships during the men's road race to celebrate compatriot and mentor Luka Mezgec's retirement. The latter will now make a transition to a Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe team car as their new director of sports.
Roglič's composure brings to mind Olympic-gold performance
The men's time trial event was last hope for Slovenia to win a medal at this year's European championships, and Roglič, a time trial world runner-up in 2017 and Olympic champion in 2021, was one of the favourites in the race.
His previous best result this season was second place at the Vuelta. In the European road race, held on 4 October, he finished tenth, and his form appeared to be on the rise.
He more than met the expectations placed on him in the time trial, with his steady performance at times resembling the one that won him Olympic gold in Tokyo.
In his first statement after the race, Roglič was asked how it felt to win in front of the home crowd. He said: "Beautiful. Of course, it's for me, but I think it's also for all the people, everyone out all these days, not just today.
"All the people that make it possible to have the championships in Slovenia, so I think it's just a beautiful finish of this event for all of us. Thank you and cheers."
He added that his radio had gone off not long after the start, so he was "completely lost", relying merely on his feelings. He gave it his all and "luckily it was enough".
Roglič has a contract with Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe through the end of this year, after which he will leave the team. Several others have expressed interest in signing one of the most successful stage racers of his generation, and now having won the European time trial title, Roglič himself indicated he was not yet considering retirement.
Slovenia proves it can organise major cycling events
Taking place in Šenčur and Ljubljana, the 2026 UEC Road European Championships has been a success story for the Slovenian organisers. Many spectators turned out to support the cyclists, lining up the roads for kilometres, and the weather played nice. The official turnout estimate across the six-day championships is some 300,000 fans.
The elite men's road race drew roughly 200,000. President of the European Cycling Union (UEC), Enrico Della Casa told TV Slovenija that the race "was our biggest success ever, since the creation of this event ten years ago", calling it the "most wonderful" so far.
In the women's events, Dutch rider Demi Vollering defended her European road race title, while Switzerland's Marlen Reusser won the time trial. France won the mixed relay event, where Slovenia finished fifth.
This has been by far the biggest cycling event Slovenia has organised so far. The country's next major goal in the role of organisers is to be picked to host the opening three stages of the Tour de France in one of the coming years.
Photo Instagram/primozroglic
