We won’t see the European champion’s jersey in the men’s peloton for a whole year. The winners at the recent European Championships – Remco Evenepoel (time trial) and Tadej Pogacar (road race) – were also the winners at the World Championships a week earlier. They will therefore race in the rainbow jersey for most of 2026.
According to UCI regulations, the rainbow jersey has priority over the stars jersey. Article 1.3.071 states that a world champion must always wear the rainbow jersey, unless he is leading a classification in a stage race.
This also means we won’t see Marlen Reusser racing time trials in the stars jersey among the women. Like Evenepoel, the Swiss rider took time trial gold in both Kigali and Ardèche. Someone who will wear the European champion’s jersey, however, is Demi Vollering. She crowned herself European road race champion after finishing seventh at the World Championships.
World Championships in Canada, European Championships in Slovenia
The 2026 Road World Championships will take place from September 20-27, 2026, with the circus heading to Montréal, Canada. The individual time trials for the elite categories are scheduled on Sunday, September 20, followed by youth races and the Mixed Team Relay on Tuesday, September 22. The women’s road race opens the final weekend (Saturday, September 26), with the men’s race (Sunday, September 27) as the highlight on the famous hilly course in Montréal.
For the 2026 European Road Championships, the peloton will head to Slovenia a week later, with races planned between October 3-7, 2026. The championship begins with the women’s road race (Saturday, October 3) and men’s road race (Sunday, October 4). Following that are the Mixed Team Relay (Tuesday, October 6) and, finally, the European time trials (Wednesday, October 7).
