Getting Tadej Pogačar, Remco Evenepoel, and Jonas Vingegaard to start the same race is a rare sight, usually reserved for the Tour de France or the biggest one-week stage races. Since their rise to the top, it has only happened seven times, as injuries, differing schedules, and even a bit of rivalry often kept them apart until the sport’s biggest occasions. Seeing all three in a one-day race has been even rarer: the last time was at La Flèche Wallonne in 2022, when Vingegaard had yet to win a Tour de France, Pogačar had 37 career victories, and Evenepoel had not claimed a senior world title. Now, those tallies stand at two Tours for Vingegaard, 105 wins for Pogačar, and four world championships for Evenepoel.
That 2022 race feels like a lifetime ago. None of the trio came close to victory: Vingegaard didn’t finish, Evenepoel placed 43rd, and Pogačar was 12th as Dylan Teuns claimed the win. More than 1,200 days later, the stars will align again on Sunday at the UEC Road European Championships in France. Traditionally not one of the season’s marquee races often decided in flat sprints for the white-and-blue jersey this year’s edition boasts one of the strongest start lists of 2025. If anyone manages to defeat Pogačar in his current form, it will be a major upset.
Pogačar enters as the overwhelming favorite for the 202.5km contest in the Ardèche and Drôme regions after a dominant World Championships victory in Rwanda, where he attacked with 105km to go and rode solo for the final 66km. Evenepoel, second in Kigali, lines up again as the main challenger. Despite a rapid transition from Africa to France, he confirmed his excellent condition by winning Wednesday’s time trial ahead of Filippo Ganna and other top specialists. Still, a road race poses different challenges, as he found out in Kigali when two poorly timed bike changes left him chasing in vain.
The head-to-head between Pogačar and Evenepoel favors the Slovenian, who has finished ahead in two-thirds of their 21 one-day races together, including nine of the last ten. Evenepoel’s last one-day victory over Pogačar came at Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 2023, a race where Pogačar crashed out early. The Belgian has the time-trial power to close gaps he proved that at April’s Amstel Gold Race when he dragged back a flying Pogačar, only to be outsprinted by Mattias Skjelmose but he often prefers to attack solo himself rather than chase others.
Sunday’s course features 13 climbs and a punchy finishing loop around Valence, with the steep Val d’Enfer (1.6km at 9.7%) tackled four times in the last 60km. Pogačar’s versatility means he could win via a long-range solo move, a late attack, or even a reduced-group sprint. Evenepoel will hope for a clean run and a chance to truly test himself against Pogačar at his peak.
Vingegaard, meanwhile, is the great unknown. While he has dominated stage races, including two Tours de France and the recent Vuelta, he has just one one-day win the 2022 Drôme Classic, held in the same region as Sunday’s race. He admits he is still learning the nuances of one-day racing but hopes to add it to his skill set in the coming years. If the three stars focus too much on each other, it could open the door for outsiders like Skjelmose, Juan Ayuso, João Almeida, or Romain Grégoire just as Dylan Teuns capitalized back in 2022.
With such a stacked field, the European Championships road race promises fireworks and perhaps a twist even the World Championships lacked.
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