The 2017 UEC Road European Championships will be held in Herning, Denmark, from 2 to 6 August as announced today in Herning at the Organising Committee and Union Européenne de Cyclisme’s press conference, which was attended by David Lappartient (UEC President), Henrik Jess Jensen (President of the Danish Cycling Federation) Lars Krarup (Mayor of Herning), Lars Lundov (Director of Sport Event Denmark), Georg Sorensen (managing director of the Messe Center Herning -cooperation) and Jakob Egholm, Junior world champion 2016.
The Championships will award European titles in the Junior, Under 23 and Elite (Men and Women) categories and will be broadcast live on TV thanks to an agreement signed between the UEC and Eurovision.
«The Danish Cycling Federation and the City of Herning have convinced us that they can offer top quality European Championships in 2017 both for athletes and spectators» – said the UEC President, David Lappartient. «We are particularly enthusiastic about the idea of being able to share the official circuit with the public and amateur cyclists via a great event which they will also be part of on the same days. Herning’s experience as the number one «cycling-city» in Denmark for the hosting of major sporting events totally convinced us that this would be the ideal location to organise an important and prestigious event like the Road European Championships».
In addition to the Road European Championships, the UEC Management Board also approved the following 2017 European Championships that will also be broadcast on live TV:
- Track European Championships (Elite) - Berlin (Germany) from 18 to 22 October;
- MTB European Championships (XCO, XCE, XCR - Junior, Under 23 and Elite) - Istanbul (Turkey) from 27 to 30 July;
- BMX European Championships (Juniors and Elite) - Bordeaux (France), from 14 to 16 July;
- Cyclo-Cross European Championships (Junior, Under 23 and Elite) - Tabor (Czech Republic) on 5 November.
Other events have been scheduled such as the MTB Downhill European Championships in Sestola (Italy) on 27 and 28 May, as well as the MTB Marathon European Championships in Svit (Slovakia) on 13 August.
The UEC Management Board also approved other important events registered on the «UEC Development Calendar» for 2017:
- MTB Beach race Elite European Championships in The Hague (Netherlands) in December;
- MTB Ultra Marathon Elite European Championships in the Aiguestortes National Park (Spain) on 1st July;
- Track Junior and Under 23 European Championships in Anadia (Portugal) from 18 to 23 July.
Also in the «Development Calendar», the most important new feature concerns BMX that will for the first time offer «HC» category races, a new UCI category that will award a major number of points to riders. The 2017 edition of the UEC BMX European Cup will feature five different stages with two events each.
«As we are approaching a busy season of races - stated David Lappartient - we would like to thank all the European National Federations for the great support they give to the UEC with the common objective of continuing to develop cycling in Europe in all countries and in all disciplines».
