As a bike racer, strategies are always evolving. That\u2019s why on Sunday in France, the world road race champion decided to surprise his opponents and not wait for a last-minute break or bunch sprint. Yup. He\u2019s had some tight finishes at the road worlds, or Strade Bianche, or the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a, or the road worlds, or the Tour de France, or the Giro d\u2019Italia, or The Tour de France\u2014so he wasn\u2019t going to leave it to chance.<\/p>\n
So, the Slovenian took a wild chance and broke away with 75 km to go. And somehow, it worked.<\/p>\n
At the 2025 European continental championships in France\u2014from Privas to Guilherand-Granges, for a total of 202 km\u2014the odds were against him to take the win. It was a stacked field with riders like world TT champion Remco Evenepoel of Soudal Quick-Step and multiple Tour de France, and 2025 Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a winner Jonas Vingegaard there as clear favourites.<\/p>\n
But Pogi decided to go on a gambit. With a whopping 75 km left, he attacked. Crazy? Yes. Unheard of? Definitely. Unorthodox? You betcha. But somehow, against all odds, Ole Pogi pulled it off.<\/p>\n
The European continental championship road race started in Privas with the Col du Moulin \u00e0 Vent, a 4.2-km climb averaging 4.9 per cent, followed by a 50-km flat stretch. Riders then tackled two loops, each ridden three times. It was a tough start\u2014and it only got tougher.<\/p>\n
The larger loop was 36 kilometres and featured the Saint-Romain-de-Lerps climb (7.1 km at 7 per cent) and the steep Val d\u2019Enfer\u2014\u201cValley of Hell\u201d\u2014(1.5 km at 9.9 per cent). The smaller loop was 17 km. It included the Val d\u2019Enfer again, along with the short but sharp Mont\u00e9e de Costebelle (300 m at 9.3 per cent).<\/p>\n
In total, the Val d\u2019Enfer was climbed six times. The final ascent came just 6.5 km from the finish. A small 400 m rise at 5.8 per cent followed, then a descent led into the flat run-in to the line.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, Evenepoel thought Poga\u010dar\u2019s novel approach to bike racing might be a thing. So he too took off on his own. Although he did his best try to try ride on his lonesome, he would finish second, finishing half a minute behind as Pogi cruised to the finish. (Perhaps the Belgian just needs to work on learning how to pace himself when he rides alone?)<\/p>\n
By this time, Vingegaard was doing a big \u201cNej tak, I think I\u2019ll stick to stage races, mate\u201d and in the showers.<\/p>\n
Pogi took a resounding win, and can now use his European championship jersey as a base layer under his rainbow jersey. There were no Canadians going for gold at the 2025 Euro road championships. (To be honest, apart from Pogi and Evenepoel, were there any Europeans doing so?)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n