European Championships 2024

The road

At the start

A championship raced like a Classic

223 kilometres around Belgian Limburg on cobbles and narrow roads, over the same short hills lap after lap. Italy bring Jonathan Milan, eleven sprint wins this season, and seven men whose job is to bury attacks for him. Belgium refuse to choose between Jasper Philipsen and Tim Merlier, and will let them race each other. Mathieu van der Poel and Mads Pedersen have to make it something other than a sprint.

How it was won

1. 1150 km to go

   Belgium's two-sprinter gamble

   Four opening laps done and the home nation has already shown its hand: Tim Merlier and Jasper Philipsen both ride free, each entitled to his own sprint, with 150km of Limburg still to come.

2. 255 km to go

   Pedersen tries to burn it down

   With 55km left Mads Pedersen attacks again and takes Van der Poel, Laporte, Van Poppel, Rutsch and Kluckers with him. None of them wants a bunch sprint; Italy want nothing else.

3. 326 km to go

   Affini drags it back

   Over the Kolmontberg and the Zammelenberg, Eduardo Affini time-trials on the front for Italy, shouting for Germany and Belgium to help. A crash splits the bunch before the Printhagendreef cobbles, but the catch comes with 26km to go.

4. 414 km to go

   Through the finish, one lap left

   Fifty-three riders come past the line with 14.2km to run, seven Azzurri lined out on the front. A moment of calm before the fight for position begins.

5. 55 km to go

   The Danes refuse to stop

   Kasper Asgreen is allowed to hang out front until five kilometres to go, then Søren Kragh Andersen goes again — and Affini chases him down too.

6. 6At the line

   Merlier round the outside

   Italy lead out and fade, the Dutch move Kooij up, and Philipsen surges along the barriers looking certain — until his own teammate Merlier comes past on the open side to take the title.

The result