Tadej Pogacar delivered a trademark 75km breakaway to win the European road race title in France on Sunday, adding the stars jersey to the world title he won a week ago and his fourth Tour de France triumph in July.
Pogacar was unrelenting in his solo rampage, only slowing to cruise across the line 31 seconds ahead of Remco Evenepoel, who attempted to push Pogacar all the way, while French teenager Paul Seixas was given a rousing welcome for bronze at three minutes, 41 seconds.
With Pogacar's closest rivals Jonas Vingegaard and Evenepoel also lining up here, large crowds cheered the riders through 202km of narrow, winding roads in the remote Ardeche region, where a familiar scenario unfolded.
Decked out in his world champion's rainbow jersey, the Slovenian Pogacar broke away from an audacious distance.
But Belgium's Olympic champion Evenepoel dug in for an admirable long-haul chase.
Vingegaard had already been dropped on a hill halfway through as a collective Belgian effort at the head of the peloton whittled down the field to a dozen pretenders.
That attack decimated the Slovenian team around Pogacar.
"I saw I was losing teammates, it wasn't the plan to go from there, but it had to be there, it was the hardest hill, and that was my advantage there," Pogacar said after the race.
As Pogacar opened a one-minute lead, Evenepoel teamed up with French 19-year-old Seixas to lead the resistance, and they were joined by Spain's Juan Ayuso and Italy's Christian Scaroni.
As Pogacar's lead extended, Evenepoel accelerated away in pursuit of the cycling superstar, who signed a reported $54 million six-year contract last November with Team UAE.
"Second place again," said Evenepoel, who also came in behind Pogacar at the world title race in Kigali last Sunday.
"It's always the same at the championships, the others didn't want to work with me," he said.
"It's a bit frustrating, but they had their team orders, you have to accept it."
Evenepoel won the European time trial and the world championship time trial this year, while he capped 2024 with the road and time trial titles at the Paris Olympic Games.
Behind them, Scaroni and Seixas duelled for third, with the emerging Frenchman given raucous support as he eventually dropped the dogged Italian.
France team coach, Thomas Voeckler, was visibly delighted with the bronze.
"There's a lot of noise around him, and it's understandable. What he just did was massive. Let him develop, and we'll see how far he goes," he said of Seixas.
Seixas was the youngest man in the field, a week after coming 13th at the worlds in Kigali.
Dutch rider Demi Vollering produced an irresistible series of attacks before soloing to victory in the women's road race on Saturday.
