Europe RR 2023

Overview

The UEC European Championships are the annual European cycling championships that see men and women from across the continent compete in various events across several disciplines for the title of European Champion. They are similar, in that sense, to the UCI Road World Championships and as such, the competition for medals is always hotly contested.

This year, the European Championships will take place in Drenthe, the Netherlands, and come hot off the heels of the Vuelta a España. Unlike most years, the World Championships in Scotland actually preceded the European Championships due to the unusual scheduling of the ‘super Worlds.’ The headline events at the European Championships are the men’s and women’s elite road races and time trials.

For those successful out on the road, a beautiful jersey awaits for the next calendar year. A white jersey marked by blue bands and adorned with Europe’s iconic golden stars, the European Champion’s jersey is one of the most noticeable in the peloton and is slowly becoming held in high esteem, just as the Vuelta’s red jersey has done since being introduced in 2010.

As the riders race for their national teams in these kinds of events, these championships usually provide the European riders with a great chance to get to know their national teammates and work on their tactics ahead of the biggest one-day race of the year - the World Road Race Championships.

However, the World Championships were held earlier than normal this season, before the Vuelta a España. As such, the squads should be used to working with each other after the races for the rainbow bands in Scotland. Could this finally be the year we see a rider win both the European and World titles in the same year?

Race key

Date: September 24, 2023

Country: The Netherlands

Category: CC

Editions: 7 (as of 2022)

First winner: Peter Sagan

Most recent winner: Fabio Jakobsen

Route

Assen → Drenthe (199.8km)

Contenders

Rather than suiting an out-and-out sprinter like most years at the European Championship Road Race, this year’s event finishes with a nasty kicker up the Col du VAM, favouring a more punchy rider who can produce a quick finish over such terrain.

In turn, the key protagonists in this race are likely to be Mads Pedersen (Denmark), Wout van Aert (Belgium) and Christophe Laporte (France).

To read our preview, where we give a full rundown of the contenders, click here.

Teams

• Albania
• Austria
• Belgium
• Croatia
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Estonia
• France
• Germany
• Great Britain
• Hungary
• Iceland
• Ireland
• Israel
• Italy
• Kosovo
• Latvia
• Lithuania
• Montenegro
• North Macedonia
• Norway
• Poland
• Portugal
• Romania
• Serbia
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• The Netherlands
• Turkey
• Ukraine

Race history

© Velo Collection (TDW) / Getty Images

Fabio Jakobsen took the victory in the men’s elite road race at last year’s European Championships in Munich, Germany

The European Road Cycling Championships are organised by the Union Européenne de Cyclisme (UEC) and have been held every year since 1995. However, it wasn’t until 2016 that we saw elite riders participate in the championships, as until then they had only been for juniors and under-23 riders. Nowadays, there are events for both the road race and the time trial for men and women, split across junior races, under-23 races and elite races.

The championships have been held all across the continent, from Trutnov, Czech Republic in 1995, to Munich, Germany in 2022. With the events taking place all over Europe the routes for both the time trials and road races can change quite dramatically from year to year. However, the courses in the men’s road race have always seemed to favour a certain type of rider. From Peter Sagan to Alexander Kristoff and Matteo Trentin to Fabio Jakobsen, the European Championships Road Race has always seemed to favour a Classics rider who can sprint well at the end of a difficult parcours.

© Velo Collection (TDW) / Getty Images

Peter Sagan won the inaugural European Championships road race in 2016 ahead of a young Julian Alaphilippe in Plumelec, France

Furthermore, in recent years, the men’s road race has been dominated by the Italian national team, with four of the last five editions being won by four different Italian riders. Similarly, in the women’s event, the Dutch national team have dominated the event since its inaugural edition, with Dutch women winning all bar one of the editions, with a different winner each time. Lorena Wiebes was the latest in the line of Dutch winners at last year’s race.

While there has been a unique winner in each edition of the elite road race since 2016, the same can’t be said for the time trial, as one rider has dominated the men’s event, as Victor Campenaerts has not only taken two victories in the time trial in both 2017 and 2018, but he has also won both a silver medal and a bronze medal in 2016 and 2020 respectively.

However, in recent years the Swiss rider Stefan Küng has stamped his mark on the event, taking victory in 2020 and 2021, before finishing just a second off the pace of eventual winner Stefan Bissegger in 2022.

© Velo Collection (TDW) / Getty Images

Marlen Reusser won the women’s time trial event in 2022 by just six seconds over four-time winner, Ellen van Dijk

Similarly, in the women’s event the flying Dutchwoman, Ellen van Dijk, has dominated the event since its inception. She took four consecutive time trial titles between 2016 and 2019 and won the 2021 road race, making her one of the most successful riders in the entire history of the championships.

Van Dijk has finished second in the previous three editions of the women’s time trial but will be absent from this year’s race due to maternity leave. Instead, Marlen Reusser will be back hoping to reclaim her title against the clock. Wiebes will be hoping to do the same in the women’s road race.

Major Races

See All

Date	Event	Class
29 Jun - 21 Jul	Tour de France	2.UWT
12 Aug - 18 Aug	Tour de France Femmes	2.WWT
4 May - 26 May	Giro d'Italia	2.UWT
28 Apr - 5 May	Vuelta España Femenina	2.WWT

Provided by FirstCycling