Sunday’s elite men’s road race was designed for defending champion Tadej Pogačar. It will now happen without him.
Pogačar has not raced since crashing at the Vuelta a España on August 29, sustaining a displaced collarbone fracture, a cervical vertebra fracture, and a concussion. His camp has ruled out any autumn return.
“His will to be there is understandable, but it’s too early. His health comes first, so it won’t happen,” UAE Team Emirates-XRG boss Mauro Gianetti said of the push for a home-race comeback.
Mathieu van der Poel is also skipping the trip. The Dutchman took bronze in Sunday’s world championship road race in Montreal, then told Wielerflits that Montreal was his last road race of 2026. Belgium’s Wout van Aert is likewise absent from his country’s eight-man squad.
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Evenepoel v Roglič v Pedersen
Belgium’s leader in Ljubljana is Remco Evenepoel, who a week earlier in Montreal became the first rider to win four consecutive elite world time-trial titles. He faded to 12th in the Worlds road race after saying he was not feeling well, and now switches focus to the continental title Pogačar has denied him.
Slovenia will lean on Primož Roglič, freshly second at the Vuelta a España behind Enric Mas. With Pogačar sidelined, Roglič is the obvious headline name on the home team.
Denmark sends an eight-man squad led by former world champion Mads Pedersen. He is faster than most climbers and difficult to shake in a hard one-day race.
France’s team is missing 2025 bronze medallist Paul Seixas, who has chosen the following weekend’s Il Lombardia over the trip to Slovenia.
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A course built for a solo attack
The race covers 196.3 km with 2,571 metres of climbing. It rolls out at 12:30pm local time on Sunday from Congress Square in Ljubljana, following a nine-kilometre neutralised section through the city before heading north via Škofja Loka and Kranj to a finishing circuit around Šenčur.
Riders complete five laps of a 22.1 km circuit built around the climb to Možjanca, where gradients reach 15.8 percent. It is a parcours designed to punish pure sprinters and reward a rider who can go alone.
The championships run 2 to 7 October and close with the elite men’s individual time trial on Wednesday.
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