Just as it happened at the World Championships in Kigali, Remco Evenepoel had to suffer another defeat and settle for second place behind Tadej Pogacar. Last year he finished second behind the Slovenian at the Giro di Lombardia, this year second at the World Championship and yesterday at the European Championships. "I'm still disappointed because I'm second again at a European Championship". It was 2021 when Evenepoel participated in the European Championships and in that edition he finished second behind Sonny Colbrelli.

"Probably this is the right result, but I'm just disappointed because this way I've come second twice at a European Championship. I had a good day, but Tadej's attack was a bit too much for me. In that last steep section, I really had to let go. But in the end, I'm the one who got closest to Tadej".

Just as it happened in Kigali, Evenepoel was the only one with the strength to follow Pogacar. The difference once again came on the climb, where the Slovenian demonstrated his supremacy.

"It was the first time I managed to stay behind him for so long, this is positive. But there's still work to do to keep pace when he makes his attacks. In the end, he continued to maintain the same rhythm and the gap remained the same. I tried to recover and then accelerate again, but it was useless".

Tactically, the Belgian team has nothing to reproach themselves for. The Slovenian also knew that the Belgians were the most dangerous opponents and therefore decided to attack to avoid falling into their trap. "Overall, we made a good tactical race. We wanted to isolate Pogacar as quickly as possible, and we succeeded. But everyone knows he doesn't need a team to protect him when he's in days like this. For the rest, the important thing is to survive as long as possible. Judging by the time differences, he is clearly superior to everyone else. I'm getting closer, but the gap is still larger than in Kigali. It was a really tough race".