Discover the full program for the European Road Cycling Championships, which are taking place this week in Drenthe in the Netherlands.
The European Cycling Championships begin this Wednesday, September 20 with the time trial events, and will continue until the end of the week with the Elite men’s road race concluding on Sunday afternoon. For the men’s time trial, the French present two outsiders with Rémi Cavagna and Bruno Armirail. Many specialists will be present: the favorites are Stefan Küng, Wout Van Aert, Geraint Thomas, Joshua Tarling and Nelson Oliveira. Among the women, Juliette Labous and Audrey Cordon-Ragot could very well appear too. The favorites are Marlen Reusser (defending champion), Riejanne Markus, Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig and Lotte Kopecky.
The French arrive well armed among the men for the road race, notably with Christophe Laporte, who will be one of the favorites on Sunday. He will be accompanied by Arnaud Démare, Benoït Cosnefroy, Axel Zingle, Florian Sénéchal, Matîs Louvel, Clément Russo and Sandy Dujardin. The announced favorites are the Dane Mads Pedersen, the Dutch Olav Kooij and especially the Belgians Wout Van Aert and Arnaud De Lie. Italy also has many cards to play for victory (Filippo Ganna, Elia Viviani, Matteo Trentin) just like Norway (Alexander Kristoff, Rasmus Tiller, Søren Wærenskjold). Outgoing winner Fabio Jakobsen is not participating this year.
Among the women, France will have the same leaders as for the time trial: Juliette Labous and Audrey Cordon-Ragot. The Dutch are among the favorites, with Lorena Wiebes and Demi Vollering in particular. Italy has a homogeneous team for the women’s race too, with in particular Elisa Balsamo and Silvia Persico. Lotte Kopecky, Liane Lippert and Kasia Niewiadoma will also join the fight. Even on a relatively flat course, we should witness a movement race, as in many championships.
For both men and women, the road race will be contested on a flat circuit of 13.7 kilometers with the only difficulty being the Col de Vam, only 600 meters long at 6% but including a paved portion at its summit which could make differences. The road is narrow and very winding on the circuit and this could encourage a wild race, especially if the wind gets involved. Above all, the finish will be judged at the top of the Col de Vam, which could complicate the task of pure sprinters.
Wednesday September 20:
Thursday September 21:
Friday September 22:
Saturday September 23:
Sunday September 24
The European Cycling Championships will be followed live on Eurosport and La Chaîne L’Équipe.
