Over 700 athletes will compete for the 30 titles on offer in the Road, Track,
MTB and BMX Freestyle Park events
The wait is nearly over with only a few hours before the main event: the Elite Road, Track, MTB and BMX Freestyle Park European Championships from 11 to 21 August in Munich (Germany).
With a total of 30 titles to be won and more than 700 competitors from 41 countries, Cycling will be a key part of this major multi-sport event, which over the 11 days will also award European titles in Athletics, Beach Volleyball, Canoe Sprint, Cycling, Gymnastics, Rowing, Climbing, Table Tennis and Triathlon.
For Cycling, all the races on the programme will be of a very high technical level in view of the list of athletes taking part.
At least 40 EUROVISION members will provide extensive TV, radio and digital coverage of the event with more than 3,500 hours of live, prerecorded and digital coverage scheduled on over 50 channels.
Eurovision members that will broadcast the 2022 Munich European Championships are: ORF (Austria); RTBF and VRT (Belgium); BNT/BNR (Bulgaria); HRT (Croatia); CYBC (Cyprus); CT/CR (Czech Republic); DR (Denmark); ERR (Estonia); YLE (Finland); France Télévisions/SRF/RFI (France); ARD et ZDF (Germany); ERT (Greece); MTVA (Hungary); RUV (Iceland); RTE (Ireland); RAI (Italy); LT/LR (Latvia); LRT (Lithuania); NOS (Netherlands); NRK (Norway); TVP/PR (Poland); RTP (Portugal); RTR (Russia); RTS (Serbia); RTVS (Slovakia); RTVSLO (Slovenia); RTVE (Spain); SVT/SR (Sweden); SRG-SSR (Switzerland); TRT (Turkey); BBC (UK).
The programme will start with the Track races from 11 to 16 August on the temporary track built inside the Munich Trade Fair Center.
The home team, Germany, will be the team to beat especially in the Women’s category where there will be some big names among the riders registered such as the Olympic gold medallists in the Team Pursuit Franziska Brausse, Lisa Brennauer, Lisa Klein and Mieke Kroeger, as well as the powerful sprinters Pauline Sophie Grabosch, Emma Hinze and Lea Sophie Friedrich.
Some of the other key riders are the Briton Laura Kenny with five Olympic golds and seven world titles under her belt, the Keirin Olympic Champion Shanne Braspennincx (Netherlands), and the Belgian Lotte Kopecky, Points Race World Champion and winner this year of the Strade Bianche and Tour of Flanders.
In the Men’s events, Italy will have the Olympic Champion and current World Champion in the Team Pursuit Francesco Lamon who, with Liam Bertazzo (team member that won the world title last October) and Elia Viviani, will undoubtedly be one of the favourites, as well as the Dutch sprinters gold medallists at the Tokyo Games in the Team Sprint Jeffrey Hoogland, Roy Van Den Berg and Harrie Lavreysen, also Olympic Champion in the Sprint and the French riders Donovan Grondin and Benjamin Thomas.
The BMX Freestyle Park events will be raced from 11 to 13 August in the spectacular Olympiapark, on the city rooftops, with among others the French rider Anthony Jeanjean, winner of two European Championships raced so far, and the Briton Declan Brooks, Olympic gold medallist at Tokyo 2020, while in in the Women’s races all eyes will be on the local rider Lara Lessmann and the winners of the first two continental titles: the Briton Charlotte Worthington (Olympic Champion last year) and the Swiss rider Nikita Ducarroz.
The Road races will award the titles for the Time-Trial (on 17 August in Fürstenfeldbruck, Munich) and Road (on 14 August for the Men in Munich - Odeonsplatz and 21 August for the Women in Landsber am Lech, Munich - Odeonsplatz).
The women’s line-up includes the Olympic Champion Anna Kiesenhofer (Austria), the Dutch rider Ellen van Dijk 2021 European Champion, the current European Champion, the Italian Elisa Balsamo, and the strong Dutch sprinter Lorena Wiebes, the Swiss Marlen Reusser, the Dane Cecile Ludwig and the local rider Lisa Brennauer.
The men’s line-up will be especially qualified with four riders who have already won the European title in their career: the Norwegian Alexander Kristoff (2017) the Italians Matteo Trentin (2018), Elia Viviani (2019) and Giacomo Nizzolo (2020) as well as the German Pascal Ackerman, third in 2019 and 2020, and the Frenchman Arnaud Demare, second in 2020, the Belgians Yves Lampaert, first yellow jersey in the 2022 Tour de France and second in the 2019 European Championships and Jasper Philipsen, winner of two stages fo the last Tour de France. In the Time-Trial, the favourites are the current European Champion Stefan Kueng (Switzerland) and the French rider Rémi Cavagna.
The MTB Cross-Country events will take place in Olympiapark on the 19th (Men) and 20th August (Women).
In the Women’s category, the current European Champion, the French rider Pauline Ferrand Prevot, will be one of the main opponents for the first three of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, the Swiss Jolanda Neff, Sina Frei and Linda Indergand, as well as the young Austrian Mona Mitterwallner and the Dutch rider Anne Terpstra.
In the Men’s category will be the talented British rider Tom Pidcock, gold medallist at Tokyo and recent winner of the Alpe d'Huez at the last Tour de France. Others to watch for will be the French riders Titouan Carod, Jordan Sarrou and Victor Koretzky as well as Ondrej Cink (Czech Republic) and the current European Champion Lars Foster who will lead the Swiss team which will also include Filippo Colombo and Mathias Fluckiger.
Enrico Della Casa, President of the Union Européenne de Cyclisme: «The European Championships Munich 2022 are for the Union Européenne de Cyclisme one of the key events of the season that will all be held in the same place, in less than two weeks and will award European titles in four out of the five Olympic Cycling disciplines. It is an event which is even more significant since it takes place on the fiftieth anniversary of the Munich Olympic Games and the main centre of these Championships will be the famous Olympiapark which today is one of the main attractions of the German city.
Following the wonderful and thrilling experience of Glasgow 2018, we are preparing to experience this moment with enthusiasm and passion, aware that along with the Munich 2022 organising committee this is a major undertaking, but we also know that in Munich, thanks to the extensive media coverage, we will have a very high level of competition.
Personally and on behalf of the Union Européenne de Cyclisme Management Board, I would like to thank the Munich 2022 organising committee, the European Championships Management with Marc Jörg and Paul Bristow, the German government, the State of Bavaria and the Interior, Sports and Integration Minister, Joachim Herrmann, the city of Munich and its Mayor Verena Dietl who have given us this major opportunity, Marion Schöne, Director of Olympiapark Munich for the warm welcome and the German Cycling Federation and its President Rudolf Sharping».
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Munich 2022 European Championships website: click here
