Mauro Gianetti doesn't beat around the bush, he's a man of relations and sophisticated diplomacy, but when it comes to taking important positions he doesn't hold back: Tadej will not be competing on Sunday, October 4th. No European Championships. "He would have wanted to - explained the Ticino team manager to Gazzetta dello Sport - but you have to deal with the reality of the facts. It's not possible, you can't force the timeline. It's too risky, health comes before everything".

The Slovenian got back in the saddle just days ago, a month after the serious crash at the Vuelta, in which he suffered a displaced fracture of the clavicle and a stable fracture of the C7 cervical vertebra. Tadej had given it more than a passing thought. The idea of returning to racing at the Europeans in front of his own crowd was far more than just a suggestion, and despite having received the green light from Professor Mir, who operated on his clavicle, the UAE Emirates-XRG staff put the brakes on his return to racing, postponing everything to 2027.