After the three first days of time-trial races, today the Road European Championships have awarded the first titles for the Road races. The first to battle it out on this 13.7 km challenging circuit in Plumelec (France), town of Morbihan at the heart of Britanny, were the youngest riders: Women and Men from the Junior category.
In the Women’s races, the continental title was won by the German Liane Lippert who sped to victory in the sprint beating a dozen riders and ahead of the Italian Elisa Balsamo and the British rider Sophie Wright.
Initially the race was dominated by the Russian Mariia Novolodoskaia who took control at approximately 25 kilometres. After the peloton regrouped, various attacks were made but without success and it was the difficult climb in the final part of the circuit that made all the difference.
The two-kilometre climb showed who were the strongest riders but they ended up being split up at the finish. The German Lippert managed to get ahead of her opponents and crossed the finish line holding her arms up in the air.
In the Men’s category, the new European champion is the French rider Nicolas Malle, who triumphed ahead of his compatriot Emilien Jeanniere and the Slovenian Tadej Pogacar.
After a very fast stretch, an attack was made and nine riders lead the race for approximately fifty kilometres. The last few kilometres were particularly exciting with the attack by Filippo Zana (Italy), caught up by the peloton at less than a hundred metres from the finish, allowing Malle to win the race.
Tomorrow, on the fourth day of the European Championships in Plumelec – Morbihan – Brittany (France) the titles for the Under 23 Men’s races will be ready for the taking (150.7 km, start at 8.45am) and Elite and Under 23 Women will ride a unique race which will award two titles (109.6 km, start at 1.45pm).
