A quick glance at the European Championships elite men’s road race results might tell a rather unnoteworthy story. Tadej Pogačar , the recently renewed world champion, won by a healthy margin . While Remco Evenepoel , the bookies’ second favourite, finished runner-up. So far, so unsurprising.

But scroll a bit further down the list, and you’ll find it abruptly stops – after 17 names, to be exact.

This is no admin error. Only 17 riders finished the race in France’s southeast on Sunday. There were no big crashes, the weather was mild and dry, and those on the start list made up the best riders from across the continent. So why did so many – 80 out of the 97 who started – fail to make it to the end? You may like

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