Primož Roglič Wins First European Title at 36 in Slovenia

Primož Roglič won his first European title in the elite men’s time trial at the UEC European Road Championships in Šenčur, Slovenia — at 36 years old, on home roads, and with his race radio dead.

The story of that day is one of the most unusual in modern cycling. On a 22-kilometre circuit that had already decided the whole week of racing, Roglič climbed to Možjanca — two kilometres at more than ten percent — in 13 minutes and 10 seconds, the fastest ascent of the day. He was quickest at the first intermediate check after eight kilometres, quickest again at sixteen, and still he had no idea what was happening behind him. His radio had failed in the very first kilometre, so for the next 27 minutes he rode with no time splits, no gaps and no information at all.

Behind him, the race was far from over. Bruno Armirail of France had been the fastest rider on the road before Roglič came through, and he fought back on the descent, taking time out of the Slovenian through every corner until the gap had shrunk to seven seconds at the line. Maxime Decomble rode the time trial of his life to give France two riders in the top three, while Ilan Van Wilder finished fourth and Stefan Küng fifth. The field was missing several of its biggest names, with Remco Evenepoel, Filippo Ganna and Paul Seixas all absent, which only added to the sense that the day belonged to the man in front of his own crowd.

Roglič stopped the clock at 28 minutes and 16 seconds. In the crowd, the climb of Možjanca had become a tunnel of Slovenian flags, and afterwards he refused to make it about himself: “It’s for me, but I think it’s also for all the people, everyone out there all these days, not just today.” Six days of European racing in Slovenia, ending with a Slovenian rider in the European champion’s jersey, on home roads, guided by feeling alone.

If you want to understand how a veteran rider wins the biggest title missing from his palmarès without a single piece of information from his team car, this is the story to follow: the climb, the splits he never heard, the chase behind him and the numbers that decided the European title.

#PrimozRoglic #EuropeanChampionships #Cycling #TimeTrial #Slovenia #ProCycling #RoadCycling

0:00 Roglič races for a European title at home
0:54 Roglič loses his radio and rides blind
1:24 13 seconds gained on the Možjanca climb
2:47 A tunnel of Slovenian flags at the finish