The Belgian edged Italy’s Giulio Ciccone in an extraordinary photo finish to claim the European road race title, with fellow Italian Christian Scaroni taking bronze.
Evenepoel completes historic championship set
The victory means Evenepoel has now won Belgian, European, world and Olympic titles in both the road race and individual time trial.
He becomes the first rider in cycling history to achieve the complete set across the eight major championship titles available in those disciplines.
His journey began with the European time trial title in 2019, before he added the Belgian time trial championship in 2022 and his first world road race title later that year.
Evenepoel subsequently won the Belgian road race title in 2023, Olympic gold in both the road race and time trial at Paris 2024, and further world and European time trial titles.
The European road race crown was the final piece missing from his collection.
Dramatic finish against Ciccone
The 196.3km race from Ljubljana to Šenčur produced a thrilling finale.
Evenepoel and Ciccone broke clear with around 32km remaining and managed to hold off the chasing group as they battled for the gold medal.
The Belgian appeared to have the advantage heading into the finish, but Ciccone launched his sprint first after the final corner.
Evenepoel responded with a final bike throw that proved decisive, with the photo finish showing him crossing the line ahead by only a few centimetres.
The margin was reported at just 0.0028 seconds, underlining how close the contest was.
Evenepoel overcomes late crash
Evenepoel's victory was made even more remarkable by an earlier incident in the race.
The Belgian crashed while attempting an initial attack but quickly remounted and returned to the action.
He attacked again soon afterwards, this time taking Ciccone with him, and the pair eventually established the decisive break.
Ciccone's refusal to take regular turns in the break became part of the tactical battle, with the Italian explaining that he was conscious of having teammate Christian Scaroni chasing behind.
Scaroni eventually finished third to complete an Italian double on the podium.
A landmark achievement for Belgian cycling
Evenepoel's latest triumph adds another major achievement to a career that has already included Olympic, world and national titles.
The 26-year-old said he was particularly proud to complete the collection after the disappointment of finishing outside the fight for the world road race title in Montréal earlier this month.
The European Championships victory therefore gives Evenepoel another landmark moment in a career that has already established him among the leading cyclists of his generation.
Race result
• Belgium – Remco Evenepoel: Gold
• Italy – Giulio Ciccone: Silver
• Italy – Christian Scaroni: Bronze
Evenepoel's victory in Slovenia has now given him a complete set of the major national, European, world and Olympic road and time trial titles — an achievement no rider had previously accomplished.