Peter Sagan added the European road race title to his world title on Sunday in Brittany, France. The Slovak came out on top in the inaugural European elite championship in Plumelec, beating Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe to the line.
"I'm extremely happy to be the first ever European Road Champion and it's an honour for me to take the Slovak colors to the highest spot of the podium," said Sagan in a statement after the victory.
"As expected, it was a long and tough race, but in the final lap my legs were strong and I thought I had what it took to jump at the opportunity when it arose.
Peter Sagan wins the mens Elite 2016 European Road Championships. Photo: Graham Watson
(Image credit: Watson)
"I waited until I felt the timing was right to attack and take my chance, although it wouldn't have been possible without the dedicated work of all my Slovak team-mates."
Sagan out-sprinted Alaphilippe at the end of the gruelling 236-kilometre to claim the title, with Spain's Daniel Moreno completing the podium positions in the men's road race. Great Britain did not field a rider in the race.
Olympic road race champion Anna van der Breggen took the victory in the women's road race ahead of trade team-mate Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Poland). Elisa Longo Borghini (Italy) placed third to claim bronze in the inaugural elite women's race. Britain's highest-placed finisher was Abby-Mae Parkinson in 38th.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlIU9bzcEFE
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Like Sagan, van der Breggen will hoping to perform well in the 2016 World Championships in Doha, Qatar in October.
"We still have the world championship coming up," said van der Breggen. "The course might not suit me as much as here but we race a lot in Qatar and we have strong girls for this kind of racing in the desert. I'll be happy to contribute to the team work next month."
Spaniard Jonathan Castroviejo and Dutchwoman Ellen van Dijk took the elite men's and women's time trial titles respectively.
Jonathan Castroviejo in the 2016 European Road Championships. Photo: Graham Watson
(Image credit: Watson)
Britain's Sophie Wright placed third in the junior women's road race to take bronze behind Liane Lippert of Germany.
The 2016 European Road Cycling Championships were relocated to Brittany from Nice, after security concerns in the wake of the terrorist attack in July.
Nigel Wynn worked as associate editor on CyclingWeekly.com, he worked almost single-handedly on the Cycling Weekly website in its early days. His passion for cycling, his writing and his creativity, as well as his hard work and dedication, were the original driving force behind the website’s success. Without him, CyclingWeekly.com would certainly not exist on the size and scale that it enjoys today. Nigel sadly passed away, following a brave battle with a cancer-related illness, in 2018. He was a highly valued colleague, and more importantly, an exceptional person to work with - his presence is sorely missed.
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