Why aren't Great Britain competing at the 2024 European Road Championships?

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.