Tim Merlier today won the title of Road European Champion in the Men’s Elite category in Hasselt (Belgium).
The Belgian rider won a bunch sprint ahead of Olaf Kooij (Netherlands) and Madis Mihkels (Estonia).
The first action of the day was that of a small group of five riders for over a hundred kilometres with Ivo Oliveira (Portugal), Mathis Le Berre (France), Nils Brun (Switzerland), Jonas Rutsch (Germany) and Felix Ritzinger (Austria). The peloton, mainly controlled by the Netherlands, Italy and Belgium, never gave the attackers much of a lead (around 1'30‘’ maximum).
The second half of the race was characterised by numerous attacks, all unsuccessful, and in the final kilometres of the race it was the Italian and Belgian national teams who controlled the peloton.
World Champion Mathieu van der Poel was the most active in trying to create a selection, attacking several times until the final sprint which saw Tim Merlier triumph.
The final day also saw the particularly hotly contested Junior Women's race, with Puck Langenbarg (Netherlands) winning the sprint over Messane Bräutigam (Germany) and Štěpánka Dubcová (Czech Republic).
The next edition of the Road European Championships will take place in France (Drôme-Ardèche) from 1 to 5 October 2025.
