Today was the second day of the 2026 UEC Road European Championships in Slovenia, with two further continental titles awarded on the Šenčur course. Following the Under-23 events that kicked off the programme yesterday, today saw the Junior Men and Elite Women take centre stage.
In the Women’s Elite race, Demi Vollering retained her European Championship title following a race in which the Dutch team played a decisive role. The new World Champion capped off an extraordinary season with another prestigious victory, winning the European jersey solo ahead of her team-mate Puck Pieterse. For the Netherlands, this is their tenth European title out of the eleven editions contested.
After a few attempts early in the race, Kathrin Schweinberger (Austria) and Margot Vanpachtenbeke (Belgium) managed to break away, building a maximum lead of around two minutes over the peloton, which was mainly controlled by the Dutch team.
The race really came to life on the first slopes of the Možjanca climb, where the field was whittled down to a leading group comprising some of the main title contenders.
Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Denmark) and Franziska Koch (Germany) then took advantage of a lull in the pace to take the lead, before being caught at the start of the final lap. A further breakaway attempt by Femke de Vries (Netherlands), Noemi Rüegg (Switzerland) and Liane Lippert (Germany) was thwarted shortly afterwards.
The decisive moment came on the final climb up Možjanca. Puck Pieterse’s acceleration caused another split in the peloton and set the stage for Demi Vollering’s attack; she managed to time her breakaway perfectly and immediately built up a significant lead.
Behind her, a group of chasers formed, including Marlen Reusser, Elisa Longo Borghini, Antonia Niedermaier and Katarzyna Niewiadoma, but Vollering managed to hold onto her lead right up to the finish line in Šenčur.
The World Champion claimed her second consecutive European title, finishing 15 seconds ahead of Puck Pieterse to secure a Dutch one-two. Marlen Reusser (Switzerland) completed the podium by taking the bronze medal.
The day began with the Junior Men’s Road race, won by Norway’s Elias Dybing, who made the decisive move on the final lap and crossed the finish line alone in Šenčur.
After an opening section marked by several breakaway attempts, the most notable move came from Slovenian Gal Stare, who pulled away from his breakaway companions on the climb up Možjanca, managing to build a lead of over a minute with around 50 kilometres to go.
Stare was caught just over 20 kilometres from the finish, and a group of nine riders formed at the front, approaching the final ascent of Možjanca with a lead of more than 40 seconds over the peloton.
It was on this very climb that Elias Dybing launched the decisive attack, quickly opening up a gap and crossing the finish line alone in Šenčur.
The Norwegian went on to claim the Junior Men’s European Championship jersey, finishing ten seconds ahead of Spain’s Aitor Martinez and the Dutchman Jop van den Biggelaar, who battled it out for the other two medals in the sprint, with Martinez finishing second and Van den Biggelaar third.
Tomorrow, the European Championships will continue with the Junior Women’s Road races (66.3 km, starting at 9.00 am) and the Elite Men (196.2 km, starting at 12.30 pm).
