Just a week after he became world champion for the second time in a row in Rwanda, Tadej celebrated another exceptional victory. He was the best at the European Championships in France as well and thus rode his way to his first continental title.
Similar to Kigali, he opted for a long-range attack in the French departments of Ardèche and Drôme. After he was isolated in the leading group of 28 riders without teammates from the Slovenian national team, he accelerated on the third and final climb to Saint Romain de Lerps. Remco Evenepoel followed him for a while, and then, 75 kilometers from the finish of this rolling 202,5-kilometer race, Tadej was alone at the front.
Behind him, a chase group formed that, besides Evenepoel, included Paul Seixas, Christian Scaroni, and Juan Ayuso. On the descent, the quartet closed to within 22 seconds, but the closing circuits and four more climbs of Val d’Enfer (1,6 km, 9,7 %) were still to come. Tadej increased the lead to more than a minute and held it all the way to the end.
In the final kilometer, he could already celebrate the win, and this time too it was Evenepoel who took silver, ultimately 31 seconds back. The bronze medal was won by the great hope of French cycling, the 19-year-old Seixas, who finished 3:41 behind Tadej. »I found myself at the front and tried to keep the advantage at around a minute, which is a fairly comfortable lead. I wasn’t that dominant, Remco was very good and he kept chasing me the whole time. I couldn’t ease up all the way to the finish; I had to push really hard. I’m happy it’s over and that I’ve won another title,« said Tadej.
Another breakaway this long – in Rwanda he rode alone at the front for almost 67 kilometers – wasn’t in the plans. »We knew the race would be the most demanding on the third longer climb, but the Belgians started attacking already on the second climb. I started losing teammates, but Domen Novak and Matej Mohorič were still strong and worked to keep the group together. In the third lap there were four or five Belgians around me, and I was alone. It’s better to attack than to be with too many guys who can attack you. I tried and it worked,« continued Tadej, after celebrating his 18. win this season and 106. win of his career.
»Every year I’d like to be a better version of myself; I’d like to gain experience and try different races. I’m lucky that I can win all kinds of races; I have to enjoy this while I can,« added Tadej, who is excited that he’ll be able to defend the European title in Slovenia next year: »It’s a great honor to have such a big race at home.«
This season isn’t over for him yet. Already on Tuesday he has the Tre Valli Varesine race, on Saturday Il Lombardia race and on Sunday another race and a get-together with fans at Pogi’s Challenge from Klanec to Krvavec.