Tadej Pogacar and Remco Evenepoel win national road cycling titles, Fred Wright takes British crown

Tadej Pogacar landed a time trial and road race double at the Slovenian national cycling championships, whilst Remco Evenepoel and Fred Wright were triumphant at their own respective national races.

Two months after he broke his wrist at Liege-Bastogne-Liege, Pogacar won with ease as he crossed the line well ahead of his nearest challenger, Luka Mezgec.

Third place went to Matej Mohoric, almost five minutes slower.

With less than a week to go before the Grand Depart at the Tour de France, the UAE-Team Emirates leader appears to be on form again after this win, and after completing two training camps – in the Sierra Nevada and then in Sestrieres – as he looks to come back from his injury.

Meanwhile, Wright (Bahrain Victorious) won the British road race national title when he broke away in the last few kilometres to take him clear of his remaining challengers.

James Knox (Soudal-QuickStep) took second place, nine seconds behind, with Stephen Williams (Israel-Premier Tech) a further 10 seconds back at Saltburn-by-the-Sea.

The three were part of a six-strong breakaway with eight of 10 laps done, but Wright went for it with 4km remaining. While the duo tried to stay in touch, they were unable to reel him in as Wright claimed his first professional victory.

Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) also had a first to celebrate, as he won the Belgian road race to grab the national jersey.

He faced a sprint battle against Alec Segaert (Lotto-Dstiny) and Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) but came out on top.

At the French championships, Valentin Madouas won his first national title.

The 26-year-old Groupama-FDJ rider pushed for victory a little over 20 kilometres from the finish line and it was enough to pull him away from team-mate Rudy Molard, who took second spot two minutes behind. Another 12 seconds behind was Trek-Segafredo’s Julien Bernard.

Madouas’ success is his team’s ninth win at the nationals, and marks a positive year for him so far after coming second at Strade Bianche and fifth in Liege.

In Spain, Oier Lazkano (Movistar) negotiated the relentless climbs in Spain to take his country’s national road championships.

Lazkano’s win was by a much narrower margin than Madouas’, as he was just six seconds clear of second-placed Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates), the pre-race favourite.

There was further success for Movistar as Alex Aranburu took bronze.

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