Great Britain’s Josie Knight claimed her second world record of the week on Wednesday en route to victory in the individual pursuit at the UEC European Track Championships.

The 28-year-old, who was also part of the world-record-breaking British team pursuit squad on Monday, took a staggering 4.181 seconds off the individual benchmark in qualifying, becoming the first woman in history to go below 4:20 with her time of 4:19.461.

Knight then went on to beat the Netherlands’ Mischa Bredewold in the gold medal final on Wednesday evening.

“I thought it was possible to maybe break the world record, but I never expected it would be possible to do a sub-4:20, so I’m very happy,” Knight said afterwards.

The record previously belonged to Italian Vittoria Bussi, who went 4:23.624 at a specially organised event in Aguascalientes, Mexico, last year. The women’s individual pursuit world record was broken nine times in 2025 after the UCI increased the event distance from 3km to 4km.

“I raced the 4km distance for the first time at the World Championships and I didn’t pace it very well and I wasn’t very happy,” Knight said. “From that moment, I was fully focused on this race here in Konya today, so I’m really happy to have done a good performance.”

Knight's GB team-mate Millie Couzens won the bronze medal.

Richardson topples Lavreysen

Later in the evening at the competition in Turkey, British sprinter Matthew Richardson pulled off a rare and convincing sprint victory over 20-time world champion Harrie Lavreysen.

In the final, the Dutchman won the first match-up of a best of three, before Richardson overhauled him, sealing the decider by more than a bike length. The moment brought Richardson’s first European title since he swapped nationality from Australia in 2024, and Lavreysen’s first individual sprint defeat at a major championships since 2019.

“It was a really hard fought battle,” Richardson said afterwards. “I’ve been working and trying to beat Harrie for many, many years, and always fell a little bit short, so it’s really satisfying to finally get on that top step.

“Hopefully it was an exciting final for the people watching at home. I certainly enjoyed myself.”

Elsewhere on day four of the European Championships, Mathilde Gros (France) won the women’s kilometre time trial, Iúri Leitão (Portugal) claimed victory in the men’s omnium, and Lotte Kopecky (Belgium) won the women’s points race.

Great Britain head into Thursday’s final day as the runaway leaders in the medal standings with 11 medals, of which six gold. The next best nation, Belgium, has three golds.

Another weekend, another monster solo victory for Tadej Pogačar. Sunday's European Championships road race in the French Ardèche region saw the Slovenian attack solo with 75km to go and hang on for a 31-second victory over (once again) a dispirited solo chaser Remco Evenepoel.

It's becoming hard to remember a time when UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider Pogačar wasn't the imperious winning machine that he has been for much of this season, such is the regularity with which he trounces all comers.

Only a week ago he won the World Championships road race in Kigali with an attack at 100km to go that saw off a host of the world's best riders. The European Championships field was very nearly as strong.

But you need only think back two seasons ago to recall a time when he was very much the underdog – certainly at the Tour de France – and many fans were starting to become deeply concerned that we might be looking at several years of Jonas Vingegaard dominance.

But how the tables have turned. And now it appears the malaise is setting in again – this time directed at Pogačar.

This became apparent at the weekend, with Pogačar suffering all manner of harassment as he rode through fans that crowded the Val d'Enfer climb.

According to a report in Dutch outlet Wielerflits, many fans put stickers on his back as he rode through, with others dropping their trousers or attempting to startle him by pretending to kick out.

Whether or not this is a one-off occurrence remains to be seen. But the smart money suggests that the longer Pogačar's dominance continues, the more frequent this kind of behaviour will become.

There is, of course, no excuse for it. You don't have to like the rider that dominates. Boo them if you like. But physical contact and overtly aggressive behaviour as they pass by inches away isn't on and is the sort of thing that could see climbs closed off for fans.

Expecting a rider to give up the victory simply because they won the week before (and yes, the week before that) is unrealistic given how hard every pro works all year to be able to put themselves in a position to do so.

As history shows though, once a rider has been dominant for long enough, it is also unrealistic to expect cycling fans to remain universally supportive of them.

The bike racing annals are littered with generational talents who suffered the slings and arrows of outrageous fandom. Every other decade has one. Jacques Anquetil – inaugurator of the five-time Tour de France-winning 'Club Cinq' – snubbed by home fans in favour of eternal underdog Raymond Poulidor. Eddy Merckx, whose cannibalistic ways eventually led to a fan fatigue that hurt him deeply. Lance Armstrong and US Postal Service, who even when the doping was only a rumour, left huge swathes of cycling fans non-plussed by their machine-like dominance. And then Team Sky and Chris Froome, whose US Postal-like dominance quickly became old for non-British fans.

Pogačar has spent much of the past two seasons riding a wave of goodwill, a lot of which is down to his ability to mix a human charm and humour with seemingly inhuman feats of cycling brilliance.

But the calling card he brandishes with increasing regularity – the swashbuckling long-range solo attack – is apparently starting to leave some fans cold. After all, we can now be reasonably sure that when 'Pogi' gets a gap with 75km to go (or some other equally unlikely distance), that the race is over.

The first few times you see it, it's hard not to be impressed. But it feels inevitable that some fans will be turned off by the ensuing lack of any jeopardy.

Whether Pogačar is aloof to the disapproval of onlookers like Anquetil, who required only "respect not adoration", or sensitive like Eddy Merckx, has yet to be truly tested.

But if the Pogačar juggernaut keeps on rolling, that could soon change.

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?

First, let’s look at the course. This year’s championships brought one of the most challenging routes in recent years, with 3,306m of elevation stretched out over 202km. This volume of climbing alone no doubt contributed to the DNFs. All three of the last three editions had far less elevation, and far more finishers: 2024 – 1,200m, 79 finishers; 2023 – 700m, 87 finishers; 2022 – 1,300m, 125 finishers. Go back to 2021, however, when there was 3,400m of climbing, and the results list drops to only 31 names.

That said, a one-day race with 3,000m elevation is not usually enough to scare riders away. Take Strade Bianche, for example, which is hillier but had almost 100 finishers this year. Part of the difference might lie in the circuit nature of the Euros course, of which around 150km took place on finishing loops, making it easy, and perhaps more tempting, for those on a bad day, out of medal contention, or done with their domestique duties to abandon and rejoin their team buses.

The second factor to consider is the event’s timing in the calendar. In previous years, the Euros have fallen in mid-August or September, almost always as a precursor to the UCI Road World Championships. This year, they followed in the week immediately after, and almost 6,000km, as the crow flies, apart.

The outcome between the two races may have been the same – Pogačar first, Evenepoel second – but the tricky logistics meant there were few other commonalities between them. In total, 34 riders took on the travel commitments of competing in both events. Of those 34, only six finished both: Pogačar, Evenepoel, Paul Seixas, Pavel Sivakov, Juan Ayuso and Toms Skujiņš. For most it was too big of a challenge.

But what about the other 60-odd riders, the domestiques who skipped the Worlds and set out to help their team-mates in France? Why didn’t they finish? As is often the case in championship events, where riders compete in national teams, only the leaders tend to make it to the line. Most domestiques finish their jobs before the fireworks start – why then pootle 100km to the end? It was the same case in Kigali, where only 30 out of 164 starters placed, an almost identical percentage to the European Championships. These numbers become more stark the tougher the course is.

This leads us to factor three: there’s little incentive to finish. With tiring legs at the end of the season, no medal hopes, and the climbs still totting up before them, often the only thing spurring those at the back of the race to the line is a sense of pride.

After all, the number of UCI points on offer were unlikely to inspire. If someone had finished 18th at the European Championships on Sunday, that rider would have earned a meagre five UCI points – the same prize they’d get for placing 51st on a stage of the Tour Down Under. At the World Championships, 18th scores 45 points – nine times as much. Pogačar hauled 250 on Sunday for winning.

It’s no surprise, then, that riders chose not to hack around for scraps. Sometimes it’s better to swallow your pride, drop out, and start the recovery process for next season. After all, the minor places are quickly forgotten.

Recent Vuelta a España winner Jonas Vingegaard can therefore take comfort in the fact few will remember he abandoned the Euros road race with 80km to go. “I had hoped for more,” he told Feltek.dk afterwards, “but sometimes it’s not your day.” It's on to the next one for him and the other 79 DNFs.

Another weekend, another dominant victory for Tadej Pogačar. The previous weekend it had been the World Championships, now, clad in his renewed rainbow bands, the Slovenian stormed to the win in the road race at the European Championships.

There are almost 6,000km between Kigali, Rwanda, where the first triumph happened, and Valence, France where the latest conquest took place, but it was much the same. At the Worlds, Pogačar had attacked at 104km to go and was alone from 66km; at the Euros, he went alone with 75km to go. This is cycling by numbers stuff. Pogačar attacks, and the best riders in the world can't catch him.

It helped the déjà vu nature of Sunday that Remco Evenepoel of Belgium finished second once again, clearly the next best thing, but quite clearly next best, not best. That only belongs to Pogačar. When he attacked on the third ascent of the Côte de Saint Romain de Lerps, that was game over, no matter the fact there was still almost two hours of racing to go.

Solo victories are seemingly more common than ever in men’s cycling, and Pogačar is an expert at them. Across his career, the Slovenian has had 17 victories where he has gone alone from over 20km out. When there is a incohesive group chasing a solo attacker, especially when that man is one of the best time triallists in the world, things favour the rider in front. Evenepoel, with France's Paul Seixas, Spain's Juan Ayuso and Italy's Christian Scaroni chasing, just couldn't bring the gap down. Seixas finished third, an impressive result for a 19-year-old.

"I find myself in the front and I tried to keep a good gap around one minute. It was a comfortable gap. I don't think it was super dominant," Pogačar said post-race. "Remco was chasing me and I couldn't give up until the finish line. I had to push really, really hard. I'm happy it's over and another title."

He continued: "Obviously we knew that the race would be the hardest on the third climb. They started to attack on the second time and we started to lose some teammates. Domen [Novak] and Matevz [Govekar] were still going really strong to keep everything together.

"On the third lap I saw there was four or five Belgians and I was alone, so it was better to be on the attack than together with too many guys who can attack you, so I tried and I succeeded."

This race had been billed as the big match-up between Evenepoel, Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard of Denmark, a rare opportunity to see the Grand Tour big three in action against each other in a one-day race. However, Vingegaard was one of the 80 riders who were unable to finish the attritional circuit race in the Ardèche. Evenepoel tried to match the world champion, but couldn't keep up.

"It was the first time I could follow his attack for so long, and I didn't get blown away, so that was positive," Evenepoel told Het Nieuwsblad. "But if I want to beat him in the future, I have to work on this kind of effort. Going really hard for those three to five minutes on a climb."

"How can I improve on that? Luckily, I'm changing teams, and it's up to my new coach to fix that," he continued. "I worked on it this summer, and in recent weeks and months, I feel like I'm getting better. It's important to train for that this winter as well. I think the wattage data from this race will be very interesting for my coach to analyse. He'll then have to decide what kind of training I should do. Because if I want to beat Pogačar in the future, I have to improve."

This is just normal now – Pogačar can and will attack from far out and power to victory. The shock that came with solo forays of old has faded as we become used to the Slovenian's powers. It's just what he does. Next up is Il Lombardia on Saturday, and who would bet against Pogačar winning that? Not me.

You’ve probably heard of the phrase ‘once in a blue moon’. It refers to a lunar phenomenon, one that happens rarely and unpredictably, where the moon appears extra full, and it leaves astronomers giddy with joy. Every two to three years, they’ll look up at the sky and marvel at the sight. They’ll then go to bed, close their eyes, and wonder how long it will be before they feel the excitement again.

Well, if any of those astronomers are cycling fans, they’re in for an even rarer treat this Sunday. Not since 20 April 2022 have they seen the planets align in this way. Tadej Pogačar, Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel, for the first time since Flèche Wallonne three and a half years ago, will start a one-day race together. Statistically speaking, it’s a happening more uncommon than a blue moon.

The European Road Championships road races tend to pass by unnoticed in the post-World Championships hangover, but this year only a fool would miss them. Taking place in the southeast of France, this year's edition brings bonafide Classics; on Sunday, the men will tackle 202km with 3,306m elevation set over punchy climbs, while the women on Saturday face 116km with over 1,500m of climbing.

Both, too, have the start lists to match. Demi Vollering (Netherlands), Marlen Reusser (Switzerland), Elisa Longo Borghini (Italy) and Kasia Niewiadoma (Poland) headline the women’s race. While the men’s equivalent, the championships' curtain closer, brings a triple threat for the ages. And there’s still plenty at stake.

Take Evenepoel, for example. At 25 years old, the Belgian has won almost every major title in cycling. He did the Olympic double last year, has four rainbow jerseys split across the road race and time trial, and has won in both disciplines across his National Championships, too.

This past Tuesday, Evenepoel claimed his first elite European title in the time trial, leaving him with just one more accolade to complete the set: the European Championships road race. It's no wonder, then, that last week he said this Sunday's race is his “biggest goal of the year after the Tour”.

If Evenepoel is to win, he’ll have to beat Pogačar, the man he finished runner-up to a week prior in Rwanda. The last time the Belgian won a road race that both he and Pogačar finished was the World Championships in Australia in 2022. In the three years since, Evenepoel has dominated against the clock, while Pogačar has won at will on the road. Still, this will be only Pogačar’s second appearance at the European Championships, having placed 5th in 2021.

And then there’s the mystifying presence of Vingegaard. The Dane is one of the greatest Grand Tour racers of his generation, but he’s an unproven enigma in single day events. The fact he’s racing the European Championships at all is a surprise in itself; over the last three seasons, he’s only done one – yes, one – one-day race, and that was last year’s Clásica San Sebastián, which he abandoned before the finish. Prior to that, his one-day results read: 16th, Il Lombardia (2022); DNF, Liège-Bastogne-Liège (2022); DNF, Flèche Wallonne (2022); 1st, Drôme Classic (2022). It’s a patchy record to say the least.

There's a big question mark over what to expect from Vingegaard on Sunday, and that’s part of the intrigue. Will he lead Denmark, in the absence of the unwell Mads Pedersen, or will Mattias Skjelmose take the reins? I’m sure Pogačar and Evenepoel don’t need to be reminded of the last time they came to a finish with the Lidl-Trek rider (psst, Amstel Gold Race).

So whatever you’re doing this weekend, cancel your plans. A blue moon is coming, and it’s bound to be an awe-inspiring sight.

New time trial world champion Remco Evenepoel added another medal to his 2025 tally with an emphatic victory in the UEC Road European Championship time trial.

He left runner-up Filippo Ganna trailing by 43 seconds over the 24km course in southern France, with Niklas Larsen of Denmark taking third place 1:08 behind the winner.

It underlines his dominance in time trials following his recent win at the Kigali World Championships, where he caught and passed Tadej Pogačar.

Britain's Ethan Hayter was fourth and fellow countryman Josh Tarling fifth at one and two seconds behind Larsen respectively.

On a largely flat course beginning at Loriol-sur-Drôme and marked only by a small climb to the finish at Étoile-sur-Rhône, Belgium's Evenepoel perched head and shoulders above all comers.

Within seven kilometres he had caught and passed minute man Stefan Küng – who knows what the Swiss time trial specialist thought when he saw Evenpoel fly by.

He said afterwards: "I'm super happy to take another title... the wind was pretty strong, always on the head or a little bit on the side, so it was really difficult sometimes to control the bike and to take the corner properly, but I think we managed everything well.

He said he would now double down for an attempt on Sunday's road race, planning to do a recon in the next day or two.

"There is a bit more time in between the events, so tomorrow I'm going to rest and then have some good training here, and I hope to be ready for Sunday," he said.

The course should have suited double world TT champion Ganna, but the Italian was unable to match Evenepoel at any of the three time checks, the gap between the two slowly drawing out to what was a strong win for the Belgian.

It was a good course for Tarling too – himself a former European time trial champion – as well as his three-time national champion British team-mate Hayter. Tarling was, in fact, third through the first two checks, but both Larsen and Hayter finished strongly to nudge him down into fifth.

Belgium also enjoyed success earlier in the day when Evenepoel's young team-mate Jonathan Vervenne triumphed in the men's under-23 time trial, held over the same course. In the men's junior event, the glory went to Michiel Mouris of the Netherlands.

Results

Elite men's UEC Road European Championships time trial

1. Remco Evenepoel (Gbr), 24km in 28:26
2. Filippo Ganna (Ita), +43s
3. Niklas Larsen (Den), +1:08
4. Ethan Hayter (Gbr), +1:09
5. Josh Tarling (Gbr), +1:10
6. Daan Hoole (Ned), +1:38
7. Mathias Vacek (Cze), +1:43
8. Stefan Küng (Swi), +1:47
9. Bruno Armirail (Fra), +1:48
10. Alec Segaert (Bel), +1:51

Under-23 men's UEC Road European Championships time trial

1. Jonathan Vervenne (Bel), 24km in 30:27
2. Matisse van Kerckhove (Bel), +1s
3. Adam Rafferty (Ire), +6s
4. Maxime Decomble (Fra), +15s
5. Mads Landbo (Den), +26s

Junior men's UEC Road European Championships time trial

1. Michiel Mouris (Ned), 24km in 30:49
2. Conor Murphy (Ire), +4s
3. Julius Løvstrup Birkedal (Den), +27s
4. Jan Michal Jakowiak (Pol), +49s
5. Eñaut Ukaregi (Spa), +55s

There was no sign of a rainbow jersey curse for Marlen Reusser, who began life as time trial world champion by winning the European Championships on Wednesday.

A week and a half on from her victory in Kigali, the Swiss rider debuted her rainbow bands in southeast France, and added a fourth European title to her list of honours.

Her winning time of 33:06 saw her average 43.48kph across the 24km course, and finish 49 seconds ahead of Norway’s Mie Bjørndal Ottestad. Mischa Bredewold (Netherlands) earned the bronze medal, a further two seconds adrift.

“I think everybody’s biggest opponent today was the wind,” Reusser smiled afterwards, having battled against 30kph gusts. “I didn’t really know how to find myself today. It was quite a crazy week in Rwanda, and then a big travel, and I’m really tired.”

Reusser's winning margin was even greater at the recent UCI Road World Championships, where she claimed her first gold medal by 51 seconds. Her newest European title marks the 18th time trial victory of her career.

“I think it’s not something you should take for granted,” she said, asked if she was confident of winning again. “I was also not sure to win because sometimes it’s tight, sometimes somebody has a super-good day and somebody [else] does not. I can also be the one with not a good day. I was not confident that anyway I was going to win this.”

Great Britain’s Anna Henderson, despite starting third, was the first rider to finish the course in Étoile-sur-Rhône, setting an early best time of 34:11 – an average speed of 42.1kph. The Olympic silver medallist’s stint in the hot seat only lasted a few handful of minutes, however, before her benchmark was bettered 16 seconds by Norway’s Ottestad.

Behind, Reusser set off in full flow. Blasting along country roads, the world champion clocked fastest at the second of three time checks, 23 seconds up on the leader. She then ripped into a headwind, caught and passed Christina Schweinberger (Austria) – who started a minute prior – and grew her advantage to 49 seconds by the final time check.

By the time Reusser approached the line, her victory was certain. She sat up from her praying mantis position, and punched the air, saluting her fortnight of back-to-back titles.

“I’m super happy that I can keep up the level. Last year I was sick, and before I could win this a few times,” said the 34-year-old, who also won in 2021, 2022 and 2023. “I’m really happy. It’s hard to race time trials, so I’m happy it’s rewarded.”

Earlier in the day, Paula Ostiz (Spain) defended her European title in the women’s junior time trial, continuing the form that brought her a road world title in Rwanda last week. Michiel Mouris (Netherlands), too, claimed successive wins in the men’s junior event, a week after winning his time trial rainbow jersey.

The new European time trial champions in the under-23 ranks are Federica Venturelli (Italy) and Jonathan Vervenne (Belgium).

Results

European Road Championships 2025, elite women's time trial: Loriol-sur-Drôme > Étoile-sur-Rhône (24km)

1. Marlen Reusser (Sui) in 33:06
2. Mie Bjørndal Ottestad (Nor), +49s
3. Mischa Bredewold (Ned), +51s
4. Katrine Aalerud (Nor), +51s
5. Lieke Nooijen (Ned), +58s
6. Juliette Labous (Fra), +1:04
7. Anna Henderson (GBr), +1:05
8. Christina Schweinberger (Aut), +1:30
9. Cédrine Kerbaol (Fra), +1:51
10. Yuliia Biriukova (Ukr), +2:06

Anna Henderson, Josh Tarling and Ethan Hayter will be the only riders representing Great Britain at the UEC Road European Championships next week.

The event, scheduled for 1-5 October and taking place in the southeast of France, will crown the Continental champions across the junior, under-23 and elite ranks in road race and time trial disciplines.

GB’s trio will only compete in the elite time trials, with no riders fielded in any of the other events, despite the country qualifying a full eight-rider team for the men's road race, and six riders for the women's road race.

The decision comes due to the event’s proximity in the calendar to the ongoing UCI Road World Championships in Rwanda, said squad performance director Stephen Park.

“With the Euros falling so closely on from the world championships this year, we will be focusing our efforts on the time-trial events specifically and are pleased we’re able to field three strong contenders across the elite categories,” Park said.

The Road European Championships begin in France’s Drôme department next Wednesday, three days after the Worlds conclude this Sunday in Rwanda.

Henderson is the only rider of the GB trio who competed in Kigali, placing eighth in the women's elite time trial. Tarling only returned to racing this month after breaking multiple vertebrae in his back in a crash at May’s Giro d’Italia, while Hayter rejoins the national squad fresh from time trial victory at the Skoda Tour de Luxembourg last week.

In recent years, British Cycling has taken a targeted approach to squad selection, prioritising events in which they have medal prospects. The governing body’s budget for the Great Britain Cycling Team comes as part of its Olympic cycle funding, which must be managed across the four years leading up to Los Angeles 2028.

Last year, Great Britain did not take any riders to the European Championships, then held in Belgium, marking the third edition in four years without British representation.

This Saturday in Rwanda, there will be no British riders in the elite women’s road race at the World Championships for the first time since 1994, the squad selectors choosing instead to focus on the inaugural women’s under-23 event. There were also no British riders fielded in the men’s elite time trial, and no British squad entered into the mixed relay time trial.

The women’s and men’s individual time trials at the European Championships will take place on the same day, Wednesday 1 October, on the same 24km course between Loriol-sur-Drôme and Étoile-sur-Rhône.

Speaking about the chances of Tarling, Henderson and Hayter, performance director Park said: “All three have proven results in the discipline, with one Olympic, three world and two European medals between them and I look forward to seeing how they take on the course and the rest of the field at this event.”

The newly minted time trial world champions Remco Evenepoel (Belgium) and Marlen Reusser (Switzerland) are also on the start lists.

Double Olympic gold medallist, mountain bike world champion, Tour de France stage winner - there isn’t much Tom Pidcock hasn’t won (or at least, tried) in the world of bikes. The Brit has risen to the top in the off-road scene, as well as on, and continues to win.

Pidcock’s latest victory took place in Portugal’s dusty Melgaço last Sunday at the European MTB Championships in the cross-country (XCO) event. Fellow Brit Charlie Aldridge followed just behind in second, with Denmark’s Simon Andreassen completing the podium.

The Championships were a display of British mountain biking, with Evie Richards taking second in the women’s rCXCO ace, one minute and 19 seconds behind Sweden’s Jenny Rissveds just a few hours before the men's race kicked off.

In the men's event the early race lead came from Switzerland’s Filippo Colombo, with Aldridge hanging defiantly onto his wheel for the majority of the race’s first half, until the Brit pushed past, the white-blue GB kit flashing through the Portuguese woodland.

The nine-lap course snaked through Peneda-Gerês National Park’s woodland, over exposed roots and white-yellow grass before tackling a rock garden fringed with yellow and black hazard signs, a reminder of the danger posed to the riders wearing only helmets and lycra for protection.

At lap five, however, the race rearranged, with Pidcock asserting his dominance over his compatriot, pushing into first for the remainder of the race.

In a time of 1:21:02, Pidcock crossed the line a clear 36 seconds faster than Aldridge, with enough time to free-wheel close to the spectators, high-fiving to the finish line. Denmark’s Simon Andreassen finished in third, one minute and fifteen seconds behind Aldridge. The early race leader Colombo finished in 4th, having fallen victim to the tough terrain, mud covering the white and red of his jersey.

This latest success marks Pidcock’s second victory in the European Championships, after he became the first Briton to win the title in Munich in 2022. Earlier this month, he took his first World Cup victory of the season (his eighth overall), battling into first place at the UCI XCO race in Andorra.

The man from Leeds has dovetailed on- and off-road programmes this year, with a busy Spring Classics campaign and the Giro d'Italia making way for MTB over the summer, before he targets the Vuelta a España at the end of August.

Not once, but twice Anna Morris broke the world record on Saturday evening as she won the individual pursuit gold medal at the European Track Championships.

The Brit, already world champion in the event, won by a staggering eight seconds in her final against Italy’s Vittoria Guazzini. Her time of 4:25.874 marked a new world record in the 4,000m discipline, shaving almost three seconds off the 4:28.306 she set in qualifying, which also beat the previous benchmark.

“Someone told me that my world record was the first world record to be achieved on this track, so I think this track will always be really special to me,” Morris said after the race in Heusden Zolder, Belgium.

This year, the distance of the women’s individual pursuit has been increased from 3,000m to 4,000m, bringing it level with the men. The previous world record belonged to New Zealand’s Bryony Botha, who clocked 4:30.752 at the Oceania Championships earlier this week.

Morris won over 3,000m at the UCI World Championships last October, meaning she now holds both the world and European individual pursuit titles.

“The final was really tough,” the 29-year-old said of her most recent success. “It’s the first time for us going the 4km for the women’s, so to back it up twice in a day was going to be tough. I just tried to dig really deep, and to be able to see Vittoria Guazzini in the same straight really helped me towards the end of the race.

“It’s the first time I’ve won a European title as an individual. We won the team pursuit in 2023, so to come as an individual is really special, and the world record is super special.”

Morris's gold medal is one of two Great Britain have earned so far at this week’s European Championships, the other coming in the men’s individual pursuit, courtesy of Josh Charlton.

Charlton led his final against Portugal’s Ivo Oliveira from the start on Friday evening, winning by 0.749 seconds with a time of 4:02.882. Like Morris, Charlton also boasts holding a world record in the 4,000m event, although his stood for six hours before it was beaten again at last year’s World Championships.

British riders have currently claimed 10 medals in total at the Europeean Championships, which concludes this afternoon.

Great Britain’s Josh Charlton won his country’s first gold medal of this year’s European Track Championships, dominating the individual pursuit on Friday evening.

The 22-year-old led his final against Portugal’s Ivo Oliveira from the start, pushing his advantage out to more than a second in the closing laps and ultimately winning by 0.749 seconds. The Brit’s time across the line was 4:02.882 over the 4,000m.

Charlton’s success on his senior European Championships debut builds on the silver medal he won in the individual pursuit at the UCI Track World Championships last October, where he also broke the world record.

Speaking to Cycling Weekly at the time, he said he was in “total shock” on becoming only the third person in the world to clock under four minutes in the event, beating Filippo Ganna’s previous benchmark with a 3:59.304 in qualifying.

Charlton was later beaten in the World Championships final by Italy’s Jonathan Milan, who also broke the world record, meaning the Brit’s time stood for around six hours. "It's more than most people have a world record for. Most people don't have one at all," he smiled.

On Friday night, Great Britain’s Maddie Leech and Rhian Edmunds also came agonisingly close to gold medals on their senior Euros debuts.

Leech led the omnium by 10 points going into the final sprint, and only needed to score one more to secure the overall. Dramatically, though, she was involved in a crash with two laps to go, and was unable to contest the dash, won by the Netherlands’ Lorena Wiebes, who took the title, leaving Leech with silver.

Edmunds, too, won silver in her individual sprint final against Yana Burlakova. The contest came down to a photofinish in the decider, with the victory going to the latter by less than a tyre’s width.

So far at the championships, held inside Belgium’s Heusden-Zolder velodrome, Great Britain have won nine medals – the most of any nation – with two days still to go.

Edmunds individual sprint silver doubled her haul, after she won the same accolade in the women’s team sprint, alongside Rhianna Parris-Smith and Lauren Bell, on Wednesday.

The men’s team pursuit squad – Charlton, Rhys Britton, Michael Gill, Noah Hobbs and Will Tidball – also won silver at the championships, beaten by the world champions Denmark in the final.

Tidball and Gill have likewise won a bronze medal apiece, in the scratch race and individual pursuit respectively. There were also bronze medals awarded to the men’s team sprint squad of Harry Ledingham-Horn, Hayden Norris and Harry Radford, and the women’s team pursuit squad of Leech, Grace Lister, Sophie Lewis, Neah Evans and Anna Morris.

The European Track Championships will continue on Saturday evening, before coming to a close on Sunday afternoon.

Former Olympic Omnium champion Matt Walls will return to track racing next weekend for the first time since he crashed into the crowd in 2022.

The 26-year-old has been named in the Great Britain squad for the upcoming European Track Championships, scheduled for 12-16 February. It will be the first time Walls has competed on the boards in over two and a half years, when he was catapulted over the barrier and into the spectators at the Commonwealth Games.

The Brit suffered severe concussion from the incident at London’s Lee Valley Velodrome, and required stitches in his forehead. He has since focused on his road career, currently riding for Groupama-FDJ on the WorldTour.

Walls will compete at the upcoming European Championships in elimination race and the Madison, alongside Will Perrett. His track palmarès to date counts five national titles, three European titles, and two Olympic medals – gold in the omnium and silver in the Madison – both earned in Tokyo in 2021.

Walls is one of just three Olympians in Great Britain’s European Championships squad, as the coaches look to give academy talents international experience.

“As a team LA 2028 is already firmly front of mind, and this competition gives us an exciting opportunity to try out some new line ups and new strategies and see how we stack up against the rest of Europe,” performance director Stephen Park said.

Olympic silver medallist Neah Evans and bronze medallist Anna Morris will lead the women’s endurance squad for the event, alongside Sophie Lewis, Maddie Leech and Grace Lister.

In the men’s endurance squad, Walls will be joined by former scratch race world champion Will Tidball, as well as Rhys Britton, Josh Charlton, Michael Gill, Noah Hobbs and Perrett.

The current under-23 women’s team sprint European champions – Rhianna Parris-Smith, Iona Moir and Rhian Edmunds – will make their elite debut, in a squad with Lauren Bell.

There will also be a GB debut for Lyall Craig, who recently joined the British Cycling programme. Craig will ride alongside Harry Ledingham-Horn, Hayden Norris and Harry Radford in the sprint events.

“It will be exciting to see our Olympians back in track competition competing for European titles,” said Park. “This event is also a fantastic chance for some of our up and coming riders, who have been inspired by the Games to make themselves known as ones to watch for LA [Olympics in 2028].”

The 2025 European Track Championships will take place in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium from 12-16 February.

The full Great Britain squad for the event is below.

Women’s endurance

Neah Evans
Sophie Lewis
Maddie Leech
Grace Lister
Anna Morris

Men’s endurance

Rhys Britton
Josh Charlton
Michael Gill
Noah Hobbs
Will Perrett
Will Tidball
Matt Walls

Women’s sprint

Lauren Bell
Rhian Edmunds
Iona Moir
Rhianna Parris-Smith

Men’s Sprint

Lyall Craig
Harry Ledingham-Horn
Hayden Norris
Harry Radford

It should not be be a surprise when Lotte Kopecky wins a bike race. The 28-year-old has won 47 of them across her career, including seven individual time trials before Wednesday. However, to win so dominantly at an elite TT, as she did this week at the European Championships, hints that there are bigger things to come for the Belgian.

She was not the favourite coming into the race, with former world champion Ellen van Dijk and Riejanne Markus both on the start list, but ended up winning from Van Dijk by 43 seconds on an incredibly flat course. It was a statement win, and one that puts her into the equation for victory at the World Championships in a fortnight.

Likewise, victory at the Tour de Romandie last weekend was not Kopecky's first general classification victory - she has six now, including the UAE Tour and the Tour of Britain Women this year - but it was the first with a properly tough route, and a properly tough field, including her teammate (soon to be ex-teammate), Demi Vollering.

In the three-stage race, Kopecky did not win a stage, but picked up bonus seconds on each day to top the GC by six seconds from Vollering. On stage two, we were treated to the sight of Vollering and Kopecky sprinting against each other, two teammates apparently forgoing all sense of collective work in the aim of individual glory. It's not the first time this has happened, if you cast your mind back to Strade Bianche in 2023, but it was the most stark evidence of the budding rivalry which will burst into action next year.

Kopecky is a rider who can pretty much do everything, apart from win a pure bunch sprint. It has seemed like Vollering and Kopecky are different kinds of riders, the former more of a climber, the latter more of a puncheur, but there is not as much specialisation in women's cycling, and so, more than often, the pair are fighting for the same wins. Free of the shackles of being on the same team, the duel might be all the more common, which is an enticing prospect. The same pair could be one-two at the Tour of Flanders or the Tour de France.

While Vollering has more GC experience, with victories at the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift and La Vuelta Femenina, among others, Kopecky is not a million miles behind. She finished second at this year's Giro d'Italia Women, just 21 seconds behind Elisa Longo Borghini, and was second at the Tour last year, behind Vollering, although the gap was bigger at 3:03. Vollering remains the rider to beat in the mountains, on those Alpine or Pyrenean lengthy climbs at altitude, but it is not beyond Kopecky to improve. There is little that she has proved herself incapable of to date.

That is where the results at the Europeans and the Tour de Romandie leave us. Kopecky should have full backing at SD Worx-Protime next year, despite the return of Anna van der Breggen, and her change into a GC rider is a tantalising prospect. Vollering, wherever she ends up, stands in her way, but one should never bet against Kopecky. Roll on 2025.

The Great Britain Cycling Team has chosen not to field a squad at the European Road Championships this week, British Cycling has confirmed. 

The event is set to take place from 11-15 September, and will be held in Limburg, in the Belgian region of Flanders. 

At last year's Championships, Great Britain won the men's time trial, thanks to Josh Tarling; the squad also won a silver medal in the women's time trial through Anna Henderson, and finished fourth in the women's road race with Pfeiffer Georgi. Zoe Bäckstedt won the under-23 women's time trial. 

In a statement shared with Cycling Weekly, British Cycling cited an "incredibly dense" calendar and a need for riders to rest in their rationale for not sending a team to Belgium. 

"Unfortunately, GBCT [Great Britain Cycling Team] will not be fielding a team for the upcoming UEC Road European Championships this year for a number of reasons," the squad's performance director, Stephen Park, said. 

"This summer's racing calendar is incredibly dense, plus the added complexity of our riders' pro team responsibilities as well as vital rest and recuperation post major events.

"We have recently had riders compete at the Olympic Games, Tour de l'Avenir and Tour of Britain, with the UCI Road World Championships coming up, giving our riders plenty of opportunities to show their abilities and fans to follow their performances."

The European Road Championships were first introduced to the calendar in 1995, with elite racing categories only added in 2016. In the past eight editions, there has been no elite British representation on three occasions, including as recently as 2022 and 2021. 

Skipping the event this year will mean Great Britain have missed three European Road Championships in four years. 

"The UEC Road European Championships is an event we value and have had great success at in the past, and we look forward to competing again in future," Park said.

The championships open on Wednesday with the time trials, in which former champions Stefan Küng (Switzerland) and Ellen van Dijk (Netherlands) are set to compete. The road races will take place at the weekend, first with the women's elite event on Saturday, followed by the men's on Sunday. 

World champion Mathieu van der Poel (Netherlands), Mads Pedersen (Denmark), Jasper Philipsen (Belgium), Lorena Wiebes (Netherlands) and Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Denmark) are all on the start lists. 

Victory for Josie Knight in the individual pursuit rounded out Great Britain’s best ever medal haul at the European Track Championships last week. 

The squad took home 14 medals from the competition in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, six of which were gold, six silver and two bronze. 

The tally meant GB topped the medal table, ahead of Germany with nine. 

For GB performance director Stephen Park, the results showed the squad are “on the right track” in this key Olympic year. 

“There were some incredible performances throughout the week, at what was an incredibly high level of competition from all teams,” Park said. 

GB’s golden run in Apeldoorn began with victory in the men’s team pursuit on Thursday night. The result meant the squad earned vital Olympics qualifying points, after they fell out of the rankings following a crash in the World Championships last summer. 

“The real big one for me was seeing Charlie Tanfield coming back,” Park said. “He’s had six months of wondering whether he’ll be able to make it back into the team having had that terrible fall in Glasgow. He’s come back and delivered a great performance when it mattered.” 

Tanfield was also part of an all-British individual pursuit final, won by his teammate Dan Bigham. There were further titles for Emma Finucane in the match sprint, Katy Marchant in the 500m time trial, Ethan Hayter in the Omnium, and finally Knight in the individual pursuit, her winning margin just three thousands of a second. 

“The morale as we go into this Olympic year is incredibly high,” Park said. “We’re clearly on the right track as we head towards Paris. We’ve set down a marker for a number of those teams that are looking to challenge us. 

“We have a group of riders and staff who are feeling confident that we’re going to be going into Paris in a strong position, and we’re going to be competitive in many, if not all, of the events, when we get to the Olympic Games. 

“It’s been a fantastic week,” he concluded. 

The squad will now travel to three Nations Cup rounds in the run-up to the Olympics. 

The first is in Adelaide, Australia on 2-4 Feb, followed by Hong Kong on 15-17 March, and finally Milton, Canada on 12-14 April, which is likely to serve as a dress rehearsal for the Games. 

The full list of GB medal winners from the 2024 European Track Championships is below. 

Gold

Ethan Hayter, Dan Bigham, Ethan Vernon, Charlie Tanfield, Ollie Wood - team pursuit
Emma Finucane - sprint
Dan Bigham - individual pursuit
Katy Marchant - 500m time trial
Ethan Hayter - Omnium
Josie Knight - individual pursuit 

Silver 

Katy Marchant, Sophie Capewell, Emma Finucane, Lowri Thomas - team sprint
Will Tidball - elimination race
Charlie Tanfield - individual pursuit
Neah Evans - Omnium
Josie Knight, Anna Morris, Meg Barker, Jess Roberts, Neah Evans - team pursuit
Emma Finucane - keirin

Bronze

Jess Roberts - elimination race
Anna Morris - individual pursuit

It took Lotte Kopecky just 19 minutes to double up on gold medals at the European Track Championships on Saturday evening. 

The Belgian won the points race in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, before immediately taking the start line in the elimination race, and winning that too. 

“When I saw the programme, I was not happy with the points race and the elimination race right after each other,” she said afterwards. 

“Fortunately, I managed to convince the coach to do both disciplines. With these two European titles within half an hour, it turned out to be a very special day.”

Kopecky crossed the line to win the points race at 19:55 local time. She then warmed down briefly on her rollers, before starting the elimination race at 20:02. 

World champion in both events, the 28-year-old conserved energy in the elimination race, and stretched out a large gap against Germany’s Lea Lin Teutenberg in the final lap. Her victory was confirmed at 20:14.

The gold medals marked Kopecky’s career fifth and sixth at the European Championships. The SD Worx rider is also the road world champion, and will target both the track events and the road race at the Paris Olympics this summer. 

Hayter and Marchant strike gold

It was a golden night for Great Britain in Apeldoorn, too, with success for Ethan Hayter in the Omnium and Katy Marchant in the 500m time trial. 

Hayter, who had not raced track since 2022 prior to the competition, went into the final Omnium event, the points race, in fourth place. He then scored regularly, leapfrogging his way up the leaderboard, and sealing the title in the final moments. 

"I didn't plan for it to be that close," the 25-year-old said. "Today I wasn't the best me that I've been either, so it was nice to still somehow pull it off in the end. Hopefully I can keep getting better."

Earlier in the evening, Marchant won the two-lap time trial by under four hundredths of a second. 

The 30-year-old Olympic bronze medallist finished top in qualifying, and then clocked a time of 33.319 seconds in the final to beat France’s Marie-Divine Kouamé, the former world champion, and take GB’s first title in the event. 

“That’s so special. I’m so so happy,” Marchant said afterwards. “Watching Emma [Finucane] win yesterday was inspiring. The younger girls are inspiring me. This is my first senior European title and I think that just goes to show the level that we’re at every day. 

“You need to be winning European titles to get a space in the team [for the Olympics], and hopefully I’m showing I’m capable.” 

GB’s Jess Roberts took bronze in the elimination race, while Harrie Lavreysen (Netherlands) added an 11th European title to his collection, winning the match sprint. 

Great Britain’s men’s team pursuit squad claimed a resounding gold medal at the European Track Championships on Thursday evening, their first at the competition in nine years. 

The quartet of Dan Bigham, Ethan Hayter, Charlie Tanfield and Ethan Vernon rode to a new British record in the final against world champions Denmark, stopping the clock at 3:45.218, and winning by over a second. Ollie Wood, who rode instead of Tanfield in the qualifying heats and first round, also received a medal.

The squad’s European victory could now prove crucial in qualifying for the Olympics. They entered the competition 11th in the rankings, following a crash at last summer’s World Championships, but look set to secure one of the ten qualifying spots for Paris.

In Thursday's final in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, the advantage swapped between the Brits and the Danes over the first half of the race. 

Vernon then peeled off, leaving GB with three riders, before Bigham put in a mammoth, one-kilometre turn to the line, stretching out the winning margin to 1.154 seconds. 

Speaking afterwards, Israel-Premier Tech rider Vernon said the team had been “struggling” in training, but everything came together in competition. 

“It is one of the last races we will do against the guys here, so it’s nice to do a good time and take some confidence going into Paris,” he said. 

“A few of us are going off onto the road now with our teams, so we are not going to be back together for a few months. It was nice to have a high like that before we go off and do our own things for a bit, then come back for the last Nations Cup.”

The final Nations Cup before the Olympics will take place on 12-14 April in Milton, Canada, and is expected to act as a dress rehearsal for the Games. 

GB’s women’s team pursuit squad were also in a gold medal final on Thursday, but had to settle for silver against the Italians. 

World champions Josie Knight, Meg Barker and Anna Morris were joined by Jess Roberts in the final, and clocked a 4:15.950 - over three seconds off Italy, and their own time in the first round heats. 

For Barker, the silver marked a first European medal. “I’m really happy,” she said. “When you lose the gold medal ride off, it takes a second to realise you have still won silver. I think we’ll look back and still be really happy with it.” 

The British women are currently the number-one ranked team in the world. Now heading into the Olympics, Neah Evans, who rode in the quartet in qualifying, said they “don’t need more motivation”. 

“We’re all pretty competitive people,” Evans said. “There are a few areas that we can work on, so that’s really encouraging that we know what we can do to improve for the future. It’s a super busy season, we’ve got a lot coming up with the main target in the summer.” 

Also at the European Championships on Thursday, Joe Truman finished fourth in the one-kilometre ‘kilo’ time trial, Ethan Hayter and Mark Stewart placed seventh in the men’s Madison, and Sophie Lewis came thirteenth in the women’s scratch. 

Friday’s action will see Bigham and Tanfield return to the boards for the individual pursuit. 

World champion Emma Finucane will face Mathilde Gros in the semi-finals of the women’s match sprint, while, in the absence of reigning champion Katie Archibald, Evans will race the women’s Omnium. 

None of GB’s riders are racing on the new Hope-Lotus HBT at the European Track Championships this week, and they might not do so before the Paris Olympics this August.

British Cycling unveiled an updated model of the track bike last July, ahead of the World Championships, where it was used just once for homologation. 

The manufacturers - Hope Technology, Renishaw and Lotus Engineering - are now against the clock to produce a fleet before the summer, with the squad still waiting to receive the updated model. 

Sprinter Jack Carlin, an Olympic silver medallist, said he has not yet ridden the new bike, and does not expect to soon. 

“I imagine the first race you’ll see us with them at is the Olympics,” he said. “There are a lot of riders, and that doesn’t mean we’re going to be the first in line to get them. It might be that they want to get them all out at the same time. We’ll just have to wait and see on that one.

"The focus just now is on the physical process goals, and the kit's the cherry on top when you go into the Games."  

A press contact at British Cycling told Cycling Weekly the bikes are likely to be launched around April, just four months before the Olympics. 

The new Hope-Lotus design has the same characteristically wide seatstays as the first edition, but now features a split seatpost, ribbed forks and aero-enhanced handlebars. 

According to GB performance director Stephen Park, it is “the most advanced bike that has ever been ridden by British athletes”. 

Still, it has only been used once in competition, steered by Charlie Tanfield in the qualifying round of the team pursuit at last year’s World Championships. Tanfield crashed, and GB failed to qualify. 

Pursuiter Dan Bigham, who also works as an aerodynamicist for Ineos Grenadiers, said he will test ride the bike for the first time next week, immediately after the European Championships. 

“I think it’s really well engineered,” Bigham said. “It’s nice to see how they’ve iterated on the previous generation. There were flaws in certain aspects of that design, how it interacts with the rider, and just general cleanliness of design. I think they were time-pressed to get that design out, so there were a few rough edges that they’ve polished nicely.” 

On Wednesday’s opening night of the European Championships, GB riders raced on the first-generation Hope-Lotus bikes, released in October 2019. Bigham rode his own pink Pinarello Bolide. 

Other nations used newly produced bikes, such as France, whose sprinter Rayan Helal was spotted on Look’s new P24. 

The wait for new bikes did not hamper GB’s medal hopes, though. The squad claimed two silver medals on Wednesday, thanks to Will Tidball in the elimination race and the women’s team sprint squad. 

Tidball raced on an outdated Cervélo T4 track bike, used by GB prior to the Tokyo Olympics. Curiously, the 23-year-old won the scratch race world title last year on an unreleased, 3D-printed bike, which has since gone back into hiding. 

Both the GB men’s and women’s team pursuit quartets will ride in gold medal finals this evening. The men will face world champions Denmark, while the GB women - the top-ranked team in the world - will take on Italy. 

The European Championships are taking place in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, and run until this Sunday, 14 January. 

Two-time Olympic champion Katie Archibald will miss next week’s European Track Championships, the Great Britain Cycling Team (GBCT) has revealed. 

Archibald holds the record for the most European titles, having earned her 18th, 19th and 20th in 2022, but will not be part of the GBCT squad in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands on 10 January. 

A press contact from British Cycling told Cycling Weekly that the 29-year-old’s focus in the first half of this year will be on the UCI Nations Cup events. 

There will be three Nations Cup rounds before the Olympics this August, each worth more qualifying points than the European Championships. 

Speaking to the media at the UCI Track Champions League last year, Archibald said “the big one” will be the Nations Cup round in Adelaide, Australia, scheduled for 2-4 February. She is then expected to compete at the round in Milton, Canada in April. 

Currently, Archibald is on a road training camp with her trade team Ceratizit-WNT. 

Besides the Scot's absence, GBCT will take a full strength women’s endurance squad to the European Championships. 

Team pursuit world champions Josie Knight, Anna Morris, Meg Barker and Elinor Barker will all travel to Apeldoorn, alongside Madison world champion Neah Evans, Sophie Lewis and Jess Roberts. 

The men’s endurance squad will also be charged with firepower, with Ineos Grenadiers rider Ethan Hayter returning to the boards for the first time since 2022. He will be joined by fellow former team pursuit world champions Dan Bigham, Ollie Wood and Ethan Vernon as the quartet look to gain qualifying points for the Olympics, following a disastrous crash at the 2023 World Championships. 

Women’s sprint world champion Emma Finucane will lead the sprint squad’s hopes, along with Olympic silver medallist Jack Carlin. 

In a press release, head coach Jon Norfolk said: “The track squad enters 2024 with strong momentum from the previous season which saw nine world and 12 European medals won, and I’m excited to see what a good block of winter training produces out in Apeldoorn."

Norfolk added: “There is real strength and depth in our current track squad, and the European championships will provide good competition experience as well as an opportunity for riders to showcase their abilities as we head towards Olympic selection.” 

The European Championships will be held from 10-14 January at the Omnisport velodrome in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands. 

The 23-rider GBCT squad is listed below. 

Women’s endurance 

Meg Barker 
Elinor Barker  
Neah Evans 
Josie Knight 
Sophie Lewis 
Anna Morris 
Jess Roberts 

Men’s endurance

Dan Bigham 
Ethan Hayter 
Will Perrett 
Mark Stewart 
Charlie Tanfield 
Will Tidball 
Ollie Wood 
Ethan Vernon 

Women’s sprint 

Sophie Capewell 
Emma Finucane 
Katy Marchant 
Lowri Thomas 

Men’s sprint

Jack Carlin  
Ali Fielding 
Joe Truman 
Hamish Turnbull 

Cameron Mason has credited former cyclocross World Champion Tom Pidcock as a major influence on his career after riding to a sensational silver medal at the European Championships.

The 23-year-old from Scotland became the first rider from outside Belgium or the Netherlands to podium in the elite men's race and finished just seven seconds behind race winner Michael Vanthourenhout.

Mason - who recently left Trinity Racing to join the Cyclocross Reds squad - later told Cycling Weekly that he had been inspired by former team-mate Pidcock’s achievements as he looks to hit similar heights himself in the years ahead.

“We all need role models,” Mason said. “Of course, when I first started watching cyclocross, it was Sven Nys and then Mathieu [van der Poel] and Wout [van Aert]. These role models are great but they're not very relatable. They've spent their whole life racing at that level in Belgium, you know, they speak a different language, they're from a different culture.

“Then with someone like Tom to be racing at that level with the background he has, which is a real kind of go ride background, of club coaching, of grassroots racing, of inter regionals, all that stuff.

“I have come from a similar background in UK Sport to him and it just shows that with the right kind of people around you, the right combination of luck and right time, right place that's the direction things can go in. That's a part of the reason why you don’t stop believing because you see someone you can relate to also reaching those heights so I think it's right to credit a bit of that to Tom [Pidcock].

“I'd like to think I'm one of those people now for younger riders. I do think it shows that a little patience and determination can result in some good things.”

Throughout the closing stages of Sunday’s race, Mason worked tirelessly to put Vanthourenhout under pressure as he closed in on the Belgian.

His silver medal combined with a fourth place in the infamous Koppenbergcross suggests that the only way is up for the 23-year-old. Mason echoed that sentiment and explained that he believes he is still yet to reach his potential in the discipline.

“It'll just be interesting to see when we stop saying that,” he said. “I kind of hope we don't and I can just keep going all the way to the top but, you know, the body and the mind have limits but I really do think I'm not at those limits yet.

“It probably says a lot about the person I am as well and what I've dealt with to get to this point. Throughout all the ups and downs it's important just to keep the faith and keep the kind of direction going because it does pay off and its days like the weekend where it is obviously quite clear for everyone to see.

"There are also lots of small wins that get you to a point like yesterday where I can kind of go for those medals.”

“Yesterday was not a perfect race,” Mason added. “It was not ideal, you know, from my grading to my start to my aggression on the first few laps, it wasn't ideal and there are still more performance percentage points to be brought out through training, through possibly a road programme. I think there's still a good amount in there still, which is pretty exciting.

“It's just going to be a case of working on those small things, those small details, really kind of getting into the marginal gains and that's maybe that next kind of three or four percent which gets the win which is pretty cool.”

Meanwhile Great Britain’s Zoe Bäckstedt and Cat Ferguson added to Great Britain’s success by taking the women’s under 23 title and a silver in the junior women’s category respectively.

Great Britain's Josh Tarling crushed his competition to win the elite men's individual time trial at the European Championships on Wednesday by a margin of 42 seconds, at just 19-years-old.

The Welshman was the favourite for the race in Emmen, The Netherlands, being the only podium finisher from the World Championships last month to take to the start line, and well and truly lived up to his top billing, setting an average speed of 56.762km/h over the 29.8km course. His finishing time was 31-30.01.

Stefan Bissegger of Switzerland finished second, 42.92 seconds behind Tarling, with Belgium's Wout van Aert third by a two tenths of a second. Having won the British National Time Trial Championships last month, Tarling will now forego the red, white and blue bands in time trials for the next year in favour of the blue and white bands of European champion.

On a flat course reminiscent of a British out-and-back time trial, Tarling always looked strong. He was fastest at the first time check, four seconds ahead of Van Aert and nine seconds ahead of Switzerland's Stefan Küng. At the second time check, he was ahead of the pair by 28 and 29 seconds respectively, before extending that lead by the end.

Küng looked set for a good time, but a crash in the final couple of kilometres saw him drop out of contention, and cross the finish line bloodied.

Tarling, already a winner at WorldTour level after winning a stage of the Renewi Tour last month with Ineos Grenadiers, will now head into 2024 with his position as a pre-eminent time triallist intact.

"It was hard," the Welshman said. "I felt weaker today than I did in the worlds. The wind was really hard. Originally it was a lot of over and under with the crowsswind, but it changed to more steady cross both ways, with no tailwind or headwind. It was just about holding high power all day, and it was really hard."

He will now head to Cro Race next week before riding the Chrono des Nations time trial next month alongside his brother Finlay Tarling.

Tarling was Great Britain's third medallist of Wednesday, following Zoe Bäckstedt's triumph in the under-23 women's individual time trial, and Anna Henderson finishing second in the elite women's ITT.

Switzerland's Marlen Reusser won the elite women's race to take her third consectuive title, with Henderson finishing 43 seconds behind. The latter finished narrowly off the podium at the World Championships last month, so a silver medal will be a confidence boost heading into the off-season.

In fact, Henderson beat the woman who knocked her off the podium by two seconds at the Worlds, Christina Schweinberger of Austria, by one second to seal second place.

"It was four straight lines really," she said post-race. "The Netherlands put on a really tough course. Technically maybe not so hard, but mentally and physically really hard. It was a time triallist's course. I was really happy with my ride, I tried to pace it well. The wind was really hard, but I think I put up with it quite well."

"I set the goal of top five today, so to make it on the podium would be really special."

Later this week, Elinor Barker and Katy Marchant will head off to Grenchen, Switzerland in what will be their first major track event since giving birth last year. 

“It’ll be really nice that we can be there to support each other,” says Barker. “As much as I think other team-mates can be really supportive, no one really knows how it feels to leave your baby at home for such a long period of time if they’ve not done it themselves before.” 

When she’s away with her trade team Uno-X, Barker’s son Nico is part of the family. He spends his days being looked after, before joining up with the squad in the evenings for a chit chat and some dinner.

“He would eat everything from the buffet,” Barker laughs. “He had olives one night and he’s 10 months old. He’s just a bottomless pit.” 

Spending time with her son on training camps has served Barker well. She’s excited to take on the season, and feels her best form is quickly returning. Still, she knows the stakes will be high in Grenchen. 

“If I didn’t go to Euros and compete in these events, I can’t do the Olympics, because that’s how the qualifying works,” she says. 

This week, she’s set herself the task of collecting all of her qualifying points in one fell swoop. To do so, Barker will ride the Elimination race, before teaming up with Olympic champion Katie Archibald in the Madison. She’s keen to win, but admits her outlook on racing has changed since having a child. 

“I used to get really nervous about races because I’d think ‘Oh God, what if I lose?’ and then I’ll just have to come home and sit with that disappointment,” she says. “I still care exactly the same amount as I did before, I just don’t have enough time to think about it.”

When Barker first found out she was pregnant, she and Marchant were sharing a room in Tokyo, Japan at the 2021 Olympics. “[Marchant] got pregnant not long after getting back,” she says. “We’ve been really close through that whole period, so it’s been really nice that we’ve been able to be there for each other.

“She literally just sent me a picture of her little boy in her National Champs jersey, which is so cute.”

The jersey in question came from Marchant’s title-winning ride in the team sprint at last month's British Track Championships, only her second competition back since becoming a mother. Once the 30-year-old stepped off the podium in Newport, Wales, she headed straight towards her son, Arthur, picking him up in one hand, while clutching her victory bouquet in the other.

“I’m feeling a little bit rusty,” Marchant tells Cycling Weekly after the race, “but it’s so good to be back.”

Like Barker, the sprinter’s perspective on racing has changed. “I’ve stepped away for 18 months. I’ve had a child. I don’t care any less about cycling, but I have bigger things to care about now,” she said. “It allows me to come to training and that’s my time away, that’s time for me.” 

Over the past two years, Marchant has tried to ride her bike as much as possible. She trained right up until the end of her pregnancy, and then returned to the track shortly after childbirth. 

“Don’t get me wrong, it’s been a challenge,” she says. “But to me, I thought there was no way that I was going to stop. I really wanted to push my body to the boundaries and just see where I can get to really.” 

That place, she hopes, is next year’s Olympics in Paris. 

Barker, too, would like to be there, but for the team pursuit gold medallist, there’s another big event circled on her calendar. 

“Every race, my target will be trying to prove that I’m good enough to go to the Tour,” she explains. “That’s what I really want to get from this season.”

Barker describes the newly introduced Tour de France Femmes as a “shining beacon of light”, which has left a lasting impact on her and the wider world of women’s cycling. “It’s already made a huge difference,” she says. “The changes in the professionalism of teams over the last few years has just been huge. 

“I started my career 10 years ago, not being paid. Now I’m on a team where I’ve got maternity pay and a pension.” 

When Barker and Marchant take to the track in Grenchen later this week, they'll follow in a line of British Olympians - including Lizzie Deignan, Laura Kenny and Sarah Storey - who have taken time out to have children, and returned to the top tier of racing. 

The duo's day-to-day lives are different to what they were before, and training time is precious, but they're excited to race once again on the international stage.

The European Track Championships start this Wednesday 8 February, and run until Sunday 12 February. 

Fred Wright is a track rider at heart. 

As a child, he'd ride down to his local velodrome in Herne Hill, London and race around the concrete banking with his friends. It turned out he had a real knack for it. Then the road came calling, and he was whisked away by the romantic promise of Grand Tours and Classics.

Next week, though, Wright’s going back to his roots. He’s been selected by British Cycling to compete at the European Track Championships, in what will be his first major competition with the national squad since 2019. 

How’s he feeling about it? “A little bit nervous to see how the track legs are going to be,” he says, "but that’s kind of the whole reason I’m doing it. I guess it’s to see how I can combine them both [road and track], not just doing the training, but in a racing scenario.” 

For Wright, the championships are a “test”, a chance to prove to himself and his team, Bahrain Victorious, that he can juggle different racing disciplines and still perform at his best. 

“Speaking to my coach [at Bahrain], it basically works well,” he says. “They’re happy for me to crack on with it as long as I don’t break myself. Touch wood.

“The sports directors for the Classics, the one thing they said was it seems like a good thing to be doing, for the speed and everything, but just don’t wreck yourself.” 

Although he hasn’t raced with GB for over three years, Wright’s certainly not out of practice. Before Christmas, the 23-year-old travelled to Ghent, Belgium, to take part in a six-day track cycling event with close friend and compatriot Ethan Hayter. Next week, he's now down to ride the Elimination race and the Madison, alongside team pursuit world champion Ollie Wood, in Grenchen, Switzerland. 

“I’m definitely stronger,” he says, recalling his earlier GB call-ups. “I didn’t quite have the legs back then. I think what I was missing then I definitely have now, which is plenty of Grand Tours in the legs, that fitness.”

Still, he insists, the pressure’s off. Wright’s plan for the European Championships is to enjoy himself, but he’ll do so with one eye on next summer’s Olympics in Paris. 

“That’s something I’m going to push for,” he says. “This opportunity has reignited that ambition to be at an Olympics and also be going for a medal. I guess maybe it’s always been there.

“Going to the Olympics was an ambition of mine since I started properly getting into cycling, and the way things have gone haven’t led to that. Now I’m in a position where there’s a possibility of that.”

For the squad in Paris, GB endurance coach Ben Greenwood will be able to select four riders, and borrow a fifth from another discipline, such as road or mountain biking. This is where Wright could slot in. His hope is to ride the road race and the Madison. "That’s sort of what I’m aiming for,” he says. 

Before that, though, he’ll have to prove that he’s strong enough. He’ll be up against many of the world’s best track talents at the European Championships, giving him the perfect opportunity to show his level and tactical awareness on the boards.  

“It all seems to be falling into place quite nicely,” Wright says, “but I won’t know until I’m 150 laps in how much of a good decision it was. Maybe I’ll regret everything.” 

He smiles, before nonchalantly adding: “If it goes tits up, I’ve got plenty of road races to look forward to.” 

Lorena Wiebes of the Netherlands timed her bike throw to perfection to take European Championship gold narrowly ahead of Elisa Balsamo of Italy on Sunday.

The Dutch sprinter was forced to wait for confirmation of her victory, as the women's road race in Munich went to a photo finish after 130km of hard riding.

It looked like the Italian leadout train had just edged out the Dutch equivalent, with Balsamo expertly lead out by Rachele Barbieri into the finish. With Wiebes forced to go alone, she launched her sprint with just over 200 metres to go, and clung on to beat Balsamo on the line by a tyre's width.

Barbieri finished in third behind the pair, with Lisa Brennauer of Germany narrowly missing out on a podium place in her last professional road race.

Balsamo against Wiebes was what was expected ahead of the race, and this is how it ended, with the two pre-eminent sprinters in the peloton showing why they are thought of in that way. 

The result means that the Netherlands have both of the European road race titles in their grasp, after Fabio Jakobsen won the men's race last weekend.

In the six editions of the European Championships road race, the Dutch have won five of them, proof if it was ever needed that they are the dominant force in women's cycling.

It was a fairly controlled race, with the Netherlands firmly taking hold of the peloton from far out, ensuring it would finish in a sprint. Defending champion Ellen van Dijk, in particular, was on the front for multiple kilometres heading into the day's denouement, bringing the three riders who were out in front back.

It was then Italy who took control, and for a moment it looked like the Dutch had mistimed their effort, as the women in white and orange faded from the front as those in blue surged forwards.

Wiebes was forced to freelance in the final kilometre, and was dropped off onto the wheel of Balsamo, her main competitor. She then launched her sprint first, going from rather far out, but managed to hold on to power to victory, holding off Balsamo by centimetres. 

Jack Carlin took Team GB’s first silver medal of the European Track Championships in the men’s Sprint on Sunday.

Hindered by injuries sustained in a crash during the semi-final, Carlin won the first of the three race final, but was unable to repeat the performance to seal top spot, Frenchman Sébastien Vigier eventually taking gold.

Carlin’s race one victory came after he defended the inside line, the most successful tactic on the temporary Munich track, but it was clear from both his body language and the blood seeping through his skin suit that any further effort would be difficult.

And so it proved. Before the second round Carlin seemed to struggle to walk to his bike, blood visible through his suit, but he pushed the Frenchman very close, losing by a fraction, but in the decider he was roundly beaten. 

The sprint competition had seemed a good chance for the British team to take two medals with Carlin joined by Hamish Turnbull in the semis. But the younger man lost out, instead competing in the bronze medal race. There he was beaten in two races by another Frenchman, Rayan Helal taking the medal.

Carlin’s crash came in the second semi final race. Having won the opening round with sheer power, in the second he was he was forced to the back and up the track by Helal. However, as the Brit closed in the Frenchman crossed the red sprinter’s line, hitting Carlin who crashed. Helal was subsequently judged to have deviated from his line and was relegated.

As Carlin made his way back to track centre his tattered skin suit was evidence of the impact, suggesting injuries which might hinder him later in the evening.

Turnbull looked good in his first semi-final race following the low line tactic which had been so profitable for him and others in previous rounds. He beat Vigier, but next time out the Frenchman forced a decider, which he won.

The ride of the day came from Italy’s Elia Viviani, who won the elimination race after finishing seventh in the 207.9km road race earlier in the day. 

World champion in the discipline, he was invisible early on, and as the race progressed seemed to be tiring. Britain’s Will Tidball nearly forced the Italian out, but was eliminated himself, finishing fifth. Meanwhile Viviani obliterated the final two laps, going long and forcing German Theo Reinhardt into a distant second.

Sunday’s evening session began with women’s Sprint, involving British riders Lauren Bell and Sophie Capewell. The women’s events were no different to Saturday’s men’s sprints, with the short track aiding the riders at the front, and Bell fell victim to this very tactic, losing to Laurine van Riessen in the single race 1/8 qualifier.

In her 1/8 race Capewell powered her way into the front position and held off Belgian Nicky Degrendele to qualify for the quarter final. There, despite using the same tactic, she was was outclassed by world champion Emma Hinze, who will be favourite for Monday’s finals.

World champion Lotte Kopecky won the women’s 25km Points Race with an aggressive, masterful performance.

After an early move from a three woman group, Britain's Neah Evans bridged and went straight over the top. However, before she could gain a lap or even win a sprint, Kopecky came over the top, achieving both.

Meanwhile, Evans looked cooked and slipped back into the clutches of a splintered pack, though she had done enough to lift herself into second place, behind the Belgian.

However, by the two-thirds mark Evans began to drift down the leader board while simultaneously Italy’s Silvia Zanardi and Frenchwoman moved into the medal positions. And after Kopecky imperiously took another lap, the race finished in that order.

 Jess Roberts bagged Team GB’s best result at the European Track Championships in Munich on Friday. The Welsh rider took second in the 10km Scratch race towards then end of the first day of medal races in Munich.

Roberts played a tactically perfect race, committing only to bring back a late three woman move who were chasing a lone French leader six laps out. Swinging off, she then followed German Lea Lin Teutenberg who caught the French leader, but stranded Roberts on the front for the final three laps.

With a decent lead she might have held on, but Norwegian Anita Stenberg stormed around the outside coming over the top of Roberts with half a lap to go. The  23 year-old former national road champion held on for an excellent silver medal.

The first day and a half of the six day track championships were purely qualifying events, but Friday evening’s session saw six gold medals awarded on the 200m, temporary track.

There were two more medals for Team GB, the men’s Team Pursuit and Team Sprint teams both winning bronze.

In the team pursuit Ryhs Britton, Oli Wood, Charlie Tanfield and Kian Emadi beat Germany in the bronze medal race. The British team dominated, taking the lead on the first lap and holding that advantage until the finish, eventually winning by close on 1.5 seconds.

The final was an entertaining affair with both France and Denmark trading punches early in the race. Denmark were down to three men early in the piece, but appeared to be holding on. However, when the French took the lead after just under 3,000m the Danes capitulated, eventually losing by well over a second.

Having been fourth best throughout qualifying, Team GB’s women’s team pursuit quartet finished in the same place, losing out in the bronze medal race to an in form French squad. The British quartet of Anna Morris, Josie Knight, Jess Roberts and Neah Evans were caught by the French with only 2,700m done. 

The event was won by the Olympic and world champions Germany after a fantastic battle with the Italians who led early on. They refused to lie down even when the Germans got on terms, the lead going one way then the other before the Germans finally took control only in the last three laps.

In the end they beat the Italians by well over half a second, clocking 4-10-87, more than six seconds off the world record they set in Tokyo last year.

Britain’s men were dominant in the Team Sprint bronze medal race, making the event appear smooth and controlled as opposed to the explosion of power it is. They led the Polish trio from the gun, eventually winning the three lap event by over half a second, their time of 35.173 good enough to have easily beaten France, who rode for gold against the imperious Dutch.

World champions, the Dutch were always the team to beat. Their time might have been nowhere near their world record, but they put almost a second into the French, though the latter team suffered a poor start.

World champions Germany qualified fastest for the women’s Team Sprint, and showed their class, though the Dutch team did anything but capitulate, pushing the Germans hard, though it was the world champions who took the title. 

Earlier in the day the British women suffered a catastrophic Team Sprint, failing to finish, though through no fault of their own. First Lauren Bell pulled her foot out of the pedal in the opening metres, then, after the restart, the trio suffered a horrendous, mystery, high speed crash, Sophie Capewell’s the rear tyre stepping out on the straight and taking out Emma Finucane.

The day’s final event was the men’s Points race. Belgian, Robbie Ghys put the cat among the pigeons taking an early lap, German, Roger Kluge responding, but it was world champion, Frenchman Benjamin Thomas who chipped away, picking up points in characteristic style. 

The race became a battle between Thomas and Ghys, the Frenchman defending the lead he took with 60 of the 200 laps remaining, and though he went into the final lap only two points ahead he bossed the sprint to take the title. 

Only five events will be decided during Saturday’s session, with the women’s 500m TT opening the day and followed by the women’s and men’s Individual Pursuit, women’s Elimination race and men’s Scratch.

British Cycling has announced its squad this morning for the upcoming 2022 European Championships in Munich, headlined by Tom Pidcock in the mountain biking.

The event takes place straight off the back of the Commonwealth Games, where 30 medals were won by the home nations. 

Neah Evans won a silver medal in the women’s road race on Sunday and is included in the squad. 

The championships begin with the track events from 11-16 August, other Commonwealth medallists including Sophie Capewell will be looking to add European podium spots to their successful run of form. Capewell took a bronze medal in the 500 metre time trial before taking a silver medal in the keirin. Capewell will be joined by Emma Finucane and Lauren Bell. 

Making a rare track appearance, Pfeiffer Georgi is included in the women’s endurance team. The Team DSM rider featured at the Tour de France Femmes in July. Josie Knight and Neah Evans of Scotland join Georgi in the lineup. 

The men’s track endurance events will see Charlie Tanfield and Oliver Wood look to continue their impressive form after collecting silver medals in the team pursuit at Birmingham 2022. Rhys Britton, Will Tidball, Will Perrett and Kian Emadi will join them. 

TOM PIDCOCK SELECTED IN MOUNTAIN BIKE SQUAD

On 19-20 August, Tour de France stage winner and Olympic Champion Tom Pidcock will look to add a European mountain bike title to his already sparkling trophy cabinet. 

The Yorkshireman is building towards a shot at the World Championship mountain bike race later this month.

Pidcock will be joined by cross-country national champion Cameron Orr, while Isla Short will be the sole British entrant in the women’s events. 

Stephen Park, Great Britain cycling performance director said:  “Coming off the back of an incredibly successful Commonwealth Games, our athletes are ready and raring to go once again as they build towards their respective world championships later in the year.

“Across the track, mountain bike and BMX freestyle park disciplines we have a fantastic depth of talent and I’m pleased to see a number of riders stepping up to the senior squads to make their debuts.

“Munich is renowned as a magnificent city for sport and we’re pleased that fans at home will be able to follow our riders’ progress through more live coverage on the BBC, in what has already been a memorable summer of British sporting success.”

FULL BRITISH CYCLING 2022 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS SQUAD

Track Events

Men's Endurance

Kian Emadi
Will Perrett
Charlie Tanfield
Will Tidball
Ollie Wood

Women's Endurance

Ella Barnwell
Neah Evans
Josie Knight
Pfeiffer Georgi
Anna Morris
Jess Roberts

Men's Sprint

Jack Carlin
Alistair Fielding
Hamish Turnbull

Women's Sprint

Lauren Bell
Sophie Capewell
Emma Finucane

BMX FSP

Men

Declan Brooks
Shaun Gornall
Sasha Pardoe
Kieran Reilly

Women

Charlotte Worthington

Mountain Bike

Men

Cam Orr
Tom Pidcock

Women

Isla Short

Ellen van Dijk defied the odds to hold off an elite chasing group on her way to European Championship victory in the women's road race.

Dutchwoman Van Dijk instigated a late breakaway on the hilly 107km course in Trento, Italy,  on Saturday (September 11) proving herself the strongest by attacking solo inside the final 30km. 

As her Dutch team-mates, including Annemiek van Vleuten, marked out attacks in the eight-rider chasing group behind, Van Dijk held onto a slim 20-second margin in the final 10km to secure the win.  

>>> Why aren’t British riders competing in the Trento 2021 European Championships?

How it happened 

The first of the elite road races at the European Championships saw the women compete in national colours, over eight laps of a lumpy 13km circuit around the city of Trento, Italy. 

Totalling 107km in total, the women’s road race took on a winding circuit through the city, each lap featuring an ascent of the 3.6km-long, 4.7 per cent average gradient, Povo climb. 

The final ascent came around nine kilometres from the finish, featuring a short descent and then a flat run, before the road ramped up slightly inside the final 200m. 

Some of the biggest names in the sport competed in Trento, including Elisa Longo Borghini (Italy), Lotte Kopecky (Belgium), Marianne Vos and Annemiek van Vleuten (both Netherlands), while their team-mate Anna van der Breggen had decided to skip the race to focus on the World Championships later this month.

As the flag dropped and riders took on the first lap, there was no immediate move to establish a breakaway, as the peloton remained whole for much of the first half of the race.

The kilometres clicked by and a number of riders attempted to attack in the middle section of the race, with still now breakaway getting clear, but the pace was formidable from the start as riders were consistently shelled out the back. The bunch numbered just 40 riders with around 65km to go. 

Eugénie Duval from France was the only rider who was able to get a gap on the bunch in the middle section of the race, pulling out a modest 25 second advantage, before she was swept up by the bunch 62km from home, as Norway and Germany controlled the pace.

After a momentary lull, the attacks were back on as the Dutch team pressed on with Ellen van Dijk, Italy and Germany also helping to string out the bunch with 58km to race. 

That acceleration resulted in a split, as Van Dijk, Soraya Paladin (Italy), Aude Biannic (France) and Romy Kasper (Germany) slipped clear of the peloton. 

Those four riders gained a strong advantage, setting up the first semblance of a real breakaway, with 27 seconds back to the bunch. 

Surprisingly Marianne Vos was dropped from the bunch inside the final 50km, as the breakaway managed to extend the gap out to 44 seconds, after Biannic was dropped and went backwards towards the bunch. 

Into the decisive section of the race it was Van Dijk who was first to attack inside the final 30km, Paladin then able to close the gap as the bunch sat 45 seconds behind, with around 30 riders remaining in the main group. 

In a relentless mood, Van Dijk attacked again shortly after and this time she dropped Paladin, as an acceleration in the reduced peloton split things up even further. 

Van Dijk took the bell as she crossed the line to start her final lap, with 52 seconds to the elite eight-rider chasing group behind, which included Annemiek van Vleuten, Demi Vollering, Katarzyna Niewiadoma of Poland, and Italy’s Marta Cavalli

The chasers became desperate with 9.5km to race, as Van Dijk still held almost a minute - Liane Lippert put in a huge attack and only Niewiadoma was strong enough to follow immediately, Van Vleuten pacing herself back across over the next half a kilometre. 

That attack dented Van Dijk’s advantage, knocking it down to 42 seconds, but Van Vleuten’s bridge across suddenly boosted Van Dijk’s chances, with a Dutchwoman behind able to mark any more attacks from Niewiadoma and Lippert. 

The chasing group then came back together 8km from home, Van Dijk’s lead now down to just 22 seconds. 

With 3km to go, the chasers had given up all hope as Van Dijk was allowed to pull a minute out on the group, as she relished the final 200m, celebrating her victory.

The chase group came across the line just over a minute down on Van Dijk, Lippert taking the silver medal and Rasa Leleivytė from Lithuania securing third in the sprint.

The European Championships continue on Sunday (September 12) with the elite men’s road race, covering 179km, featuring three additional climbs and eight laps of the finishing circuit.    

European Championships 2021, elite women's road race:  Trento to Trento (107.2km) 

1. Ellen van Dijk (Netherlands), in 2-50-35
2. Liane Lippert (Germany), at 1-18
3. Rasa Leleivytė (Lithuania)
4. Katatzyna Niewiadom (Poland)
5. Demi Vollering (Netherlands)
6. Marta Cavalli (Italy)
7. Marlen Reusser (Switzerland)
8. Alena Amialiusuk (Belarus), all at same time
9. Annemiek van Vleuten (Netherlands), at 1-21
10. Elisa Balsamo (Italy), at 2-28 

If you’ve been watching the European Championships, taking place in Trento over the past week, you may have noticed the absence of the British flag during the racing.

No British riders are competing in the major road event in Italy, after British Cycling announced earlier this year that it would not be taking a team to compete the European Championships. 

The UEC European Road Championships are one of the biggest events on the regular cycling calendar for national teams, as riders compete for the European champion's jerseys from junior up to elite level, both in time trials and road races. 

According to British Cycling, the biggest priority for the Great Britain Cycling Team (GBCT) is winning medals in the Olympic and Paralympic Games, which took place this summer in Tokyo.

Due to a combination of the Tokyo games and the Covid-19 pandemic, increased costs and staff shortages mean that GBCT had to reduce the number of races they would be attending, forcing the squad to miss the European Championships.

A statement from British Cycling, released earlier this year said: “The primary objective of the Great Britain Cycling Team is to achieve the highest number of podium results at the next Olympic and Paralympic Games. All GBCT strategic decisions, including major event attendance, are made in alignment with achieving this objective.

“The Covid-19 pandemic and the delayed Tokyo 2020 Games have resulted in increased budget and staff resource pressures which bring with them limitations on the level & quantity of activity we are able to commit to.

“As a result of the above, GBCT will not be attending the UEC European Road Championships scheduled to take place from September 8-12 in Trento.

“Budget and staff resource will be focussed on the UCI Road World Championships in Flanders, taking place from September 19-26.” 

>>> 'Probably the best seat in the house': James Shaw explains his tactics after sprinting with Wout van Aert, Julian Alaphilippe, and Ethan Hayter

GBCT also skipped the Junior Track World Championships in Egypt, instead focusing on the European Under-23 Track Championships in Apeldoorn.  

Stefan Küng put in a phenomenal performance to take the European Championship time trial crown, upsetting the pre-race favourite Filippo Ganna.

The 22km-long pan-flat TT, held in Trento, Italy, looked to be a three-rider battle at the midway point, with Ganna, Küng, and Remco Evenepoel all within four seconds of each other at the first timing check. 

As Ganna opened up on the second half of the course, it looked as though he had powered into the European champion’s jersey, as he put seven seconds into Evenepoel by the finish.

But as Küng (Switzerland) pulled into the final straight with 20 seconds to spare, it became clear that he had pulled out a staggering time on the Italian, crossing the line with eight seconds to spare over Ganna. 

How it happened 

The 2021 European Championships were raced over a rapid and flat 22.4km course, perfectly suited to the more powerful testers like reigning world champion Ganna and last year's European champion Küng. 

Early in the day, it was Denmark's Kasper Asgreen who set a strong benchmark time, tearing around the course in 25-21, holding an average speed of 53km/h. 

But Asgreen wasn't in the hotseat for long, as rising star Edoardo Affini (Italy) fcame across the line with a new best time of 25-08, but that was only the beginning of some seriously fast times from the rest of the favourites. 

Another emerging talent, Stefan Bissegger (Switzerland) then put in another fast time of 24-52, but with Ganna, Evenepoel and Küng all on the course, it wasn't looking promising for Bissegger.

At the first timing check, Ganna was fastest, but was only two seconds quicker than the much smaller rider Evenepoel, with Küng another two seconds back.

But into the pivotal second half of the course, all three riders dug in to try and up the pace.

Ganna was the first of the three to cross the line, putting up a 24-37 (52km/h average), taking the hotseat and looking like he had wrapped up the win.

Victory looked to be secured for Ganna when Evenepoel crossed seven seconds slower.

>>> Ethan Hayter sprints to victory and retakes overall lead on Tour of Britain stage five

Küng then made the final turn with the finish line in sight, still with plenty of time in hand as he sprinted for the finish.

The defending champion crossed the line with a time of 24-29, an average speed of 54.8km/h hour, and eight seconds quicker than the pre-race favourite Ganna. 

European Championships, elite men's time trial: Trento to Trento (22.4km) 

1. Stefan Küng (Sui), in 24-29
2. Filippo Ganna (Ita), at 8s
3. Remco Evenepoel (Bel), at 15s 
4. Stefan Bissegger (Sui), at 23s
5. Max Walscheid (Ger), at 38s
6. Edoardo Affini (Ita), at 39s
7. Kasper Asgreen (Den), at 52s
8. Maciej Bodnar (Pol), at 1-04
9. Rémi Cavagna (Fra), at 1-06
10. João Almeida (Por), at 1-17 

Marlen Reusser powered into the European champion’s jersey in the elite women’s time trial in Italy. 

The Swiss rider was dominant for the entire 22km course in Trento on Thursday (September 9), putting almost 20 seconds into her nearest rival.

As TT specialist Reusser comfortably took the gold medal, it was the Dutch rider Ellen van Dijk who was her nearest challenger, finishing 19 seconds slower than Reusser.

Germany’s Lisa Brennauer took the final medal spot, more than a minute down on the frontrunner. 

Following on from the mixed relay team time trial the previous day, the women’s TT was the first of the major elite races at the 2021 European Championships, being held in the city of Trento in northern Italy. 

The 22.4km-long course for the women’s TT was a pan-flat route taking place along the valley floor. 

There were 33 riders competing in the event, but some of the star time triallists were absent from the start list, most notably Annemiek van Vleuten and Anna van der Breggen (Netherlands), who are both focussed on the World Championships later this month. 

But it was Reusser who emerged as the dominant rider in their absence, tearing around the course with an average speed of 49.3km/h, setting a time of 27-13. 

Ellen Van Dijk was the next fastest challenger, holding an average speed of 48.8km/h, finishing 19 seconds behind. 

It was Lisa Brennauer who was next in line on the podium, finishing 1-02 down on the winner with an average speed of 47.5km/h. 

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Austria’s Anna Kiesenhofer, the shock winner of the Olympic road race earlier this year, put in another stand-out ride, finishing seventh in the TT, two minutes behind Reusser. 

The European Championships continue on Thursday with the men’s under-23 TT and the men’s elite TT later in the day. 

European Championships 2021, elite women’s time trial: Trento to Trento (22.4km) 

1. Marlen Reusser (Sui), in 27-13
2. Ellen Van Dijk (Ned), at 19s
3. Lisa Brennauer (Ger), at 1-02
4. Lisa Klein (Ger), at 1-22
5. Riejanne Markus (Ned), at 1-43
6. Valeriya Kononenko (Ukr), at 1-52
7. Anna Kiesenhofer (Aut), at 2-00
8. Vittoria Bussi (Ita), at 2-09 
9. Sara Van De Vel (Bel), at 2-13
10. Emma Norsgaard (Den), at 2-18

The return of the mixed relay team time trial pitted some of the strongest cycling nations against each other, with Italy emerging victorious at the 2021 European Championships.

Led by powerhouses Filippo Ganna and Elisa Longo Borghini, the Italian TTT unit smashed the 44.8km-long course with a time of 51-59, beating the reigning champions Germanys to second place by 21 seconds.

The mixed relay is a relatively new discipline, introduced during the 2019 season, that only makes an appearance during the European and World Championships. 

Despite its unique nature, which sees three male and three female riders male and female from each nation take on the course separately, the event often attracts some star names in the sport. 

The course for the Trento 2021 European Championships was a pan flat route along the valley floor. 

It was the Dutch team, consisting of Jos van Emden, Koen Bouwman, Bauke Mollema, Floortje Mackaij, Demi Vollering and Amy Pieters, who set an early benchmark time of 52-25, with an average speed of 51.2km/h.

But it was the Italian squad of Ganna, Alessandro De Marchi, Matteo Sobrero, Elisa Longo Borghini, Marta Cavalli and Elena Cecchini who came through to secure the victory, with an average speed of 51.7km/h.

Meanwhile Germany’s six-rider team - Justin Wolf, Miguel Heidemann, Max Walscheid, Mieke Kröger, Tanja Erath, and Corinna Lechner - went into second with a time of 52-20 (51.3km/h). 

The European Championships continue on Thursday (September 9) with the men’s and women’s elite time trials, where Filippo Ganna is favourite to take victory as he continues to prepare for the World Championships TT later this month. The women’s TT is wide open however, as Annemiek van Vleuten and Anna van der Breggen (Netherlands) are both absent. 

European Championships 2021 mixed relay team time trial 

1. Italy, in 51-59
2. Germany, at 21s
3. Netherlands, at 26s
4. France, at 1-28
5. Austria, at 3-24
6. Russia, at 3-35
7. Ukraine, at 3-35
9. Polan, at 3-53 

Peter Sagan has confirmed that he will be riding the European Championship road race in Trento, Italy on September 12.

The Bora-Hansgrohe rider hasn't returned to racing since abandoning the Tour de France on stage 12, where he suffered a knee infection that had developed after a crash on the third stage of the race.

Since his operation and subsequent recovery, Sagan has been riding with friends and his brother Juraj (also Bora-Hansgrohe) in the Pyrenees on his road and mountain bikes, postings some exhilarating videos on Instagram.

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Sagan said: "My recovery is going well. I am training intensively to get back to my best level. I can't possibly predict how the European Championship race will turn out, but I can promise that I will give everything for the best possible result."

The Slovakian rider who has won the World Championships three times in his career has also won the Europeans when it first came available for the professional men's peloton in 2016, but did not wear the jersey due to him being world champion at the time.

"Without a doubt, the European Championships have seen an impressive growth since 2016." Sagan continued. 

"I don’t know to what extent my victory contributed to this, but I’m happy to add my small stone even if it’s just a little bit. As for this year’s edition, I’m sure it will have a top-level field that will guarantee an exciting race."

However, Sagan is likely to face an amazing list of riders that include Tour de France champion Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), Tour of Flanders winner Kasper Asgreen (Deceuninck - Quick-Step), Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo), reigning champion Giacomo Nizzolo (Qhubeka-NextHash), Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck - Quick-Step), Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) and many more stars besides on the hilly route.

The route takes place around Trento over a distance of 179.2km with 73km of riding over tricky medium sized mountains with the highest, Candriai, peaking at over 1000 metres. 

It's then onto the laps with 73.4km to go with eight laps of a 13.2km circuit including the Povo climb which is a short 3.6km with an average gradient of 4.7 per cent.

With the fate of the World Championships still uncertain and the Olympics postponed until next year, the 2020 European Time Trial Championships could be the biggest solo test of the season. 

A reduced field of riders donned their national colours to race against the clock in Plouay, France on an exciting  25.6km-long rolling and twisting course.

While some of the best time triallists in the world weren’t present, including Wout van Aert who chose to skip the race and Remco Evenepoel who is out injured, there was still some formidable talent in the start-list of both the men’s and women’s races. 

In the men’s event, it was Switerzland’s Stefan Küng who took the biggest TT win of his career, while Anna van der Breggen (Ned) added the European time trial title to her 2016 Euros road race victory. 

But what do the Strava stats behind the racing reveal? 

Unfortunately Küng, who set the fastest time on the Strava segment for the course with a 29-33 and an average speed of 50.1km/h, didn’t publicly post his power data from the ride but luckily we can still get an insight from the rest of the frontrunners. 

Second place on the day went to Frenchman Rémi Cavagna, who was also second on the Strava segment with a time of 29-51.

Cavagna pushed an enormous 441 watts for the half an hour effort, or around 5.56 watts per kilogram with an average speed of 48.6km/h.

Hour Record holder Victor Campenaerts also raced representing Belgium, but he wasn’t able to compete for the win on a challenging course.

Instead he settled for third place with a time of 29-53 and an average power of 391w. But with an average speed of 49.6km/h and finishing just two seconds outside of Cavagna’s time with 50w less, Campenaerts showed how much time can be saved with a strong aerodynamic position. 

In fourth place in the men’s event was Britain’s Alex Dowsett, riding kit not issued by his Israel Start-Up Nation team.

Dowsett admitted he wanted more from the race after finishing with a time of 30-35 and an average speed of 48.4kmh. 

But his power numbers were still pretty huge, as he put out 402w for his effort. 

In the women’s race, sixth place finisher Juliette Labous (Fra) was the fastest rider to share her power data, also taking the Strava KoM with a time of 34-58.  

Labous put out 261w for the ride with an average speed of 42.3km/h.

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Lizzy Banks (GBr) finished 13th on the day, but was the third fastest on the Strava segment with a time of 35-29. Banks put out 275w for her effort.

The British squad for the road European Championships has been confirmed, with Lizzie Deignan, Alex Dowsett and Tom Pidcock leading the charge. 

Taking place in Plouay, France from August 24-28, the UEC Road European Championships will be the first competition for the Great Britain Cycling Team after the coronavirus lay-off. 

With huge talent lining up in the both the women’s and men’s races, British riders look to be in with a strong chance of taking home medals. 

In the women’s road race, former world champion Deignan will be leading the team with support from Alice and Hannah Barnes, with Lizzy Banks completing the four-rider squad. 

For the men’s road race, younger riders will be carrying the British hopes with Tom Pidcock, Gabz Cullaigh and Ethan Hayter lining up. 

The rest of the men’s team on the road will be Alex Dowsett, Matt Holmes, Scott Thwaites, Matt Walls and Fred Wright. 

In the European time trials, Lizzy Banks and Hayley Simmonds will race against the clock in the women’s race while Alex Dowsett will be the only British rider in the elite men’s category. 

Pidcock will then also be racin the under-23 time trial alongside Ethan Vernon. 

British Cycling performance director Stephen Park said: ““With the road race calendar still understandably uncertain, the European Road Championships are now a key feature for the Great Britain Cycling Team’s road squad and as such we are sending a strong team with real medal chances in each category and discipline.”

The 2020 World Championships, initially scheduled for Switzerland in late September, have been cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic, as the UCI have said they will try to find an alternative venue for this year’s Worlds. 

Despite the uncertainty, the British team are keen to use the Euros as a preparation race for the World Championships.

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Park said: “As a team, we are remaining optimistic about the road worlds taking place in some form, and the European Championships will serve as good preparations for that as well as providing a great racing opportunity in its own right. I know the team we are taking are keen to do the jersey proud, and I know the road team will be ready for whatever happens in the coming weeks.” 

Great Britain Cycling Team for the European Championships 2020

Elite Women’s Road Race

Lizzy Banks

Alice Barnes

Hannah Barnes

Lizzie Deignan

Elite Women’s Time Trial

Lizzy Banks

Hayley Simmonds

 Elite Men’s Road Race

Gabz Cullaigh

Alex Dowsett

Ethan Hayter

Matt Holmes

Tom Pidcock

Scott Thwaites

Matt Walls

Fred Wright

Elite Men’s Time Trial

Alex Dowsett

Under 23 Women’s Road Race

Anna Docherty

Jess Roberts

Anna Shackley

Amelia Sharpe

Under 23 Women’s Time Trial

Anna Docherty

Jess Roberts

Under 23 Men’s Road Race

Rhys Britton

Alfie George

Max Rushby

Ethan Vernon

Sam Watson

Xeno Young

Under 23 Men’s Time Trial

Tom Pidcock

Ethan Vernon

Emily Nelson took the first gold medal for the British team at the 2019 UEC European Track Championships, as Elia Viviani also took a title on the opening day of racing.

Nelson rode a measured and perfectly executed women’s scratch race on Wednesday (October 16) in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, taking the gold medal ahead of Shannon McCurley (Irl) in silver and Maria Martins (Por) in Bronze.

Italian sprinter Viviani made an emphatic return to the track after a successful road season, taking the gold medal in the elimination race.

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Speaking after her victory, 22-year-old Nelson said: “I started my sprint a couple of laps earlier than I usually would, but I knew I wanted to lead out rather than try to get around other riders.

“I’m really happy with the jersey, especially with it being my first elite European title.”

The men’s team sprint squad fought hard in their event, but were kept off the top spot of the podium by the Dutch team.

GB riders Ryan Owens, Jack Carlin, and Jason Kenny took the silver medal behind the Dutch outfit of Jeffrey Hoogland, Harrie Lavreysen and Roy van den Burg, with the French team taking bronze.

In the men’s elimination race, Elia Viviani took gold ahead of Bryan Coquard (Fra) who took silver and Poland’s Filip Prokopyszyn.

Britain’s Matt Walls, the defending champion, was edged out of the medals in the final laps and finished fourth.

Russia won gold in the women’s team sprint, Germany silver and Netherlands bronze.

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In the team pursuits, the women’s squad looked dominant and easily qualified for the gold medal final on Thursday (October 17), while the men’s team struggled and will fight for the bronze medal against Germany on the second day.

The final day will also see Neah Evans race the women’s elimination event, Walls back in action for the men’s scratch race and both individual sprint competitions decided.

Amy Pieters added to the Netherlands' tally of European titles today, sprinting from a three woman breakaway to the take the win in Alkmaar.

The 28 year-old was the clear winner in the sprint, Elena Cecchini crossing the line a bike length behind in second, and Germany’s Lisa Klein third.

The three had been off the front of the race for more than 76km and had begun jockeying for position only inside the final two kilometres. Despite her best efforts, Klein was in an unenviable position on the front throughout the final 1500 metres, and was passed easily by Pieters who opened her effort in the final 200 metres.

Cecchini, in only her second race since a crash at June's OVO Energy Women’s Tour, was never able to get on terms with the Dutchwoman, but managed to overtake her Canyon-SRAM team mate, Klein with relative ease.

After a tremendous effort to close the gap the British team came away with fifth place for Alice Barnes.

How it happened

With high winds raging across the Dutch flatlands, the peloton race was blown to pieces nearly as soon as the flag dropped. And, with just 20km of the 115km course in Alkmaar covered, the bunch was split into three groups spread over more than one minute.

The leading group of 15 contained five women from a super strong Dutch team, with Anna Henderson the only Brit making the early selection. With two of the ten pan flat laps done they led a second group by 30 seconds. 

On these early laps the home squad took much of the responsibility, though their advantage dropped the moment they allowed the German team to come to the front.

Despite having three riders in the lead group the Italians led the chase, and with the Dutch hesitancy among the leaders, the advantage soon came down, and a larger group formed.

With 2017 champion Marianne Vos and Kirsten Wild now in that front group the Dutch now had even greater strength, though Henderson also had reinforcements, Nikki Juniper and national champion Alice Barnes giving the Brits options.  

With 76km left to race, the Dutch put another rider up the road when Pieters took what was to be the winning move away, and over the ensuing six kilometres the trio built a lead of 1.30.

Representing the strongest countries in the race and the chasing group, and with all three having excellent sprints, their team mates should have seen no need to chase. However, with the gap over 2.30 only five kilometres later, the Dutch began attacking from behind.

First Demi Vollering, then Lucinda Brand, Chantal Blaak and Marianne Vos had a go, but with other teams alert, none of the home squad’s efforts were successful, though they succeeded in ensuring the pace remained high.

Out front the three leaders cooperated extremely well, their lead settling at two minutes while the jockeying behind made the racing exciting and fascinating in equal measure.

As the race approached the closing 50km Juniper came to the head of the peloton in an effort to close the gap. The 37 year-old was briefly able to bring the gap under two minutes, but with no help from other countries the leaders once again began to slip away.

After nearly ten minutes on the front Juniper was joined by both Henderson and Barnes, the British team taking responsibility with the race disappearing up the road. 

A solo effort by Barnes brought a reaction from the leaders’ team mates, but it was only with 32km remaining that GB received any help, with the Belgians coming to the front.

However, despite this the three leaders’ gap gradually increased, again approaching the 1.50 mark, having been within 1.40.

British and Belgian matches burnt, and with just over 20km to go, the Dutch returned to the front and at last, the gap to the leaders began to tumble, and with 15km remaining the deficit was inside one minute for the first time. 

However, with the catch apparently in touching distance the Dutch, with the Italian team of last year’s champion Marta Bastianelli on their wheel, sat up allowing the leaders their heads.

Result

European Championships 2019: Elite women’s road race, Alkmaar - Alkmaar (115km)

1. Amy Pieters, Netherlands in 2-56-03

2. Elena Cecchini, Italy

3. Lisa Klein, Germany all at same time

4. Lorena Wiebes, Netherlands at 25 sec

5. Alice Barnes, GB

6. Kirsten Wild, Netherlands

7. Lisa Brennauer, Germany

8. Susanne Andersen, Norway

9.Christine Majerus, Luxembourg

10. Rasa Leleivyte, Lithuania all at same time