Primož Roglič (Slovenia) won the European Championships time trial (Slovenia) on 7 October, in 28’16”. Bruno Armirail (France) was second, 7″ back, and Maxime Decomble (France) third, 28″ back.
The race
The elite time trial at the European Championships was run over 22.1 kilometres, starting and finishing in Šenčur, Slovenia, with 367 metres of climbing. It was a short, twitchy course, suited to riders who can push hard uphill and then hold their position on the fast sections.
The difficulty came early: a climb of about two kilometres at an average gradient of 10.2%. That is where Primož Roglič built his lead. At the time check at the eighth kilometre he was on 13’10” and already about 13” ahead of Armirail, 15” ahead of Ilan van Wilder and 16” ahead of Maxime Decomble.
After the climb the route dropped and then opened onto faster roads. On this stretch Roglič had a problem nobody could see from the roadside: his radio stopped working after the first few kilometres. He said he rode by feel, without the information from the team car that in a time trial helps a rider pace his effort.
Frenchman Armirail began to chip away. At the second time check, at kilometre 16.3, his deficit had fallen to 9”. Fewer than six kilometres remained, and for Roglič it was the moment when managing the clock counted as much as the legs.
Roglič held on and finished in 28’16”, 7” ahead of Armirail. Decomble, a 21-year-old Frenchman, took third, 28” back. Van Wilder, Küng and Asgreen completed the top of the standings, all within 45” of the winner.
For Roglič it is a first European time trial title, and he won it in front of his home crowd. He says that is what he enjoyed most: winning here, in front of his own fans. He already has the Olympic time trial gold from Tokyo on his palmarès.
The field was missing two of the most anticipated names. Defending champion Remco Evenepoel and Filippo Ganna were not at the start, and the race opened up to a wider group of favourites. Roglič took advantage of a course that might have been drawn for him.
The first Italian is Marco Frigo, 7th at 55″. 42 riders finished out of 43 starters.
The top ten
| # | Rider | Country | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Primož Roglič | Slovenia | 28’16” |
| 2 | Bruno Armirail | France | +7″ |
| 3 | Maxime Decomble | France | +28″ |
| 4 | Ilan van Wilder | Belgium | +33″ |
| 5 | Stefan Küng | Switzerland | +35″ |
| 6 | Kasper Asgreen | Denmark | +45″ |
| 7 | Marco Frigo | Italy | +55″ |
| 8 | Jakob Söderqvist | Sweden | +56″ |
| 9 | Callum Thornley | Great Britain | +56″ |
| 10 | Ivan Romeo | Spain | +57″ |
News written with the help of Mnemosyne.
Sources
- Results and times: UCI, official results.
- Photo: Lars Plougmann, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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