Ciccone loses European cycling title to Evenepoel by 0.0028 seconds

Italian cyclist Giulio Ciccone has questioned the accuracy of the photo finish at the European road cycling championship: he lost the title to Belgian rider Remco Evenepoel by a margin of just 0.0028 seconds and demanded to see the image taken precisely at the finish line.

Ciccone's claims

“I've watched the available footage a hundred times already,” Ciccone said. “In the shots where the finish line is visible, I still see dynamics that, in my view, don't match the decision that was made.” According to the rider, if a European title is decided by 2.8 thousandths of a second, it is entirely reasonable to demand that this moment be shown with the same precision used to determine the result.

The Lidl-Trek rider explained that a photo finish is not a real-time snapshot but a time-based recording from a camera aimed at the finish line. “If that photograph confirms the result, I'll have nothing more to say. But until I see that exact image, the question remains open for me,” Ciccone stated.

At the same time, the Italian did not question Evenepoel's result itself; the Belgian has claimed victories in all the major road and time-trial events — the European and world championships, the Belgian national championship and the Olympic Games. “Evenepoel was the strongest rider yesterday. He rode like a champion, handled a difficult race and delivered an outstanding result,” Ciccone noted. He added: “I'm not asking for the finish photo to be replaced by a TV shot, and I'm not questioning Remco's quality or the excellent race he rode. I'm asking for something very simple: let's look at the finish photograph taken right at the finish line.”

Organizers respond

After Ciccone's statements, the European Cycling Union (UEC) issued an official statement. According to the organization, the photo-finish system used at the 2026 European road cycling championship (EtherLynx Vision PRO X) captures the finish line a thousand times per second, and at this championship's races specifically — 13,000 times per second — allowing the finishing order to be determined with exceptional precision even when the margin is minimal.

UEC clarified that the finish photograph is not a conventional snapshot but a chronological sequence of frames taken at the finish line, which is why the horizontal axis represents time rather than distance. This can create visible distortions of wheels, bicycles and riders, but does not affect the accuracy of the result in any way. In cycling, the decisive criterion is the most forward-projecting point of the front wheel at the moment it crosses the finish line. Two independent photo-finish systems were operating at the European championship, producing two separate images to verify the result.

Read also: 9 best cycling routes around Prague: from the Vltava embankments to Karlštejn Castle

Source: sport.cz