Trentin wins European Championships

Matteo Trentin claimed the European Road Championship title for Italy on a rainy course in Glasgow. He won the sprint of a six-man group, topping Wout Van Aert (Belgium) and Mathieu van der Poel (Netherlands).

"It's incredible to have won after everything I've been through recently," said Trentin after the race. "We rode perfectly as a team and I have to thank everyone who has supported me during my problems and injuries. Nothing went right for eight months and so I want to thank everyone who was there for me. This is a great day!"

They had been part of a ten-rider strong group which got away with about 55km to go. A crash on the wet roads with just under ten km left took out several of the riders, leaving only a high-powered group of Trentin, Van Aert, van der Poel, Davide Cimolai (Italy), Jesus Herrada (Spain) and Xandro Meurisse (Belgium).

"When the right move formed, I spoke to Cimolai and then he attacked to make the others show their hand," Trentin explained. "I saw [Maurits] Lammertik go into the barriers but we avoided him. Then we eased slightly but it all worked out perfectly.

 "The crash simplified things. Then in the sprint, I asked Cimolai to lead me out and he did. He did a spectacular job, as did all the Italian team."

How it unfolded

Rain was the theme of the day in Glasgow, ranging from heavy to light to none and then back again. The race was 16 laps of the city course, for a total of 230 kilometres. Shortly after the start, a break group set off with Matthias Krizek (Austria), Roland Thalmann (Switzerland), Josef Cerny (Czech Republic), Polychronis Tzortzakis (Greece), Krists Neilands (Lithuania), Mikhel Räim (Estonia) and Robert-Jon McCarthy (Ireland). Räim soon dropped, leaving six.

They built up a lead of up to just over five minutes, with the peloton content to let them go on the long day and uncomfortable weather. Making the race even more challenging, there was no race radio and all tactical decisions had to be made by the riders out on the road.

As the race hit the halfway mark, the field, led by Belgium, France and Italy, finally picked up the pace and got serious.

As the rain stopped, the wind picked up, and a number of favourites could be found at the back of the field, or struggling to catch up. Defending champion Alexander Kristoff (Norway) was at one point in a chase group with Peter Sagan (Slovakia). The World Champion was obviously not in best form all day, and with 86km left, he finally abandoned.

Shortly thereafter and with the gap down to 30 seconds, Belgium made its move. It was a spirited but short-lived attack. With 55km to go a group of about 60 riders was together. Once again Belgium charged up the climb, with Xandro Meurisse taking a lead.

Nico Denz (Germany) was the first to move up to the Belgian, and soon a high-powered group of 11 formed: Xandro Meurisse (Bel), Wout van Aert (Bel), Mathieu van der Poel (Ned), Maurits Lammertink (Ned), Davide Cimolai (Ita), Matteo Trentin (Ita), Emils Liepins (Let), Nico Denz (Ger), Michael Albasini (Sui) and Pierre Luc Périchon (Fra).

They had 1:20 with 42km to go and it appeared that the peloton decided to let them, as they slowed their pace. But the teams at the head of the field – Belgium, Italy, France and the Netherlands – all had riders in that lead group.

They head into the final 29km and the penultimate lap with 2:57 over the field – proving the race was basically over. Liepins was dropped along the way. The rain started up again with less than 20 km left to go. The ten took to the bell lap still together, and with only 14km to go, they started eying one another. The field was back at 2:35.

Things changed again with 9.5km to go, as Lammertink slid out on a corner. He tried to save himself, but hit the barriers and took others down with him. That left only Herrada, Van der Poel, Van Aert, Cimolai and Trentin in the front.

Cimolai was the first to jump with 7km to go.Van Aert led the group up to the Italian. The five then rode together, with Denz, Lammertink and Perichon within shouting distance. Meurisse was the only one able to catch the lead group.

Even with 500m the group stayed together, with everyone apparently setting everything on the sprint. Van Aert was the first to go but was unable to follow Trentin, who immediately set off. The Italian claimed the title ahead off Van Aert and Van der Poel.

 

Full Results

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#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Matteo Trentin (Italy)5:50:02
2Mathieu Van Der Poel (Netherlands)Row 1 - Cell 2
3Wout Van Aert (Belgium)Row 2 - Cell 2
4Jesus Herrada Lopez (Spain)Row 3 - Cell 2
5Davide Cimolai (Italy)Row 4 - Cell 2
6Xandro Meurisse (Belgium)0:00:07
7Michael Albasini (Switzerland)Row 6 - Cell 2
8Pierre Luc Perichon (France)Row 7 - Cell 2
9Nico Denz (Germany)0:00:25
10Maurits Lammertink (Netherlands)0:02:15
11Alexander Kristoff (Norway)0:02:22
12Jasper Stuyven (Belgium)Row 11 - Cell 2
13Rick Zabel (Germany)Row 12 - Cell 2
14Sonny Colbrelli (Italy)Row 13 - Cell 2
15Luke Rowe (Great Britain)Row 14 - Cell 2
16Matej Mohoric (Slovania)Row 15 - Cell 2
17Joshua Huppertz (Germany)0:02:25
18Michael Morkov (Denmark)0:02:32
19Emils Liepins (Latvia)Row 18 - Cell 2
20Elia Viviani (Italy)Row 19 - Cell 2
21Michal Golas (Poland)Row 20 - Cell 2
22Aksel Nõmmela (Estonia)Row 21 - Cell 2
23Hugo Hofstetter (France)Row 22 - Cell 2
24Zdenek Stybar (Czech Republic)Row 23 - Cell 2
25Greg Van Avermaet (Belgium)Row 24 - Cell 2
26Kasper Asgreen (Denmark)Row 25 - Cell 2
27Alexander Krieger (Germany)Row 26 - Cell 2
28Matthias Krizek (Austria)Row 27 - Cell 2
29Koen De Kort (Netherlands)Row 28 - Cell 2
30Scott Thwaites (Great Britain)Row 29 - Cell 2
31John Degenkolb (Germany)Row 30 - Cell 2
32Pieter Weening (Netherlands)Row 31 - Cell 2
33Jelle Wallays (Belgium)Row 32 - Cell 2
34Claudio Imhof (Switzerland)Row 33 - Cell 2
35Roland Thalmann (Switzerland)Row 34 - Cell 2
36Jonas Koch (Germany)Row 35 - Cell 2
37Oscar Riesebeek (Netherlands)0:02:50
38Matthew Teggart (Ireland)0:02:57
39Gediminas Bagdonas (Lithuania)0:03:18
40Lukas Spengler (Switzerland)Row 39 - Cell 2
41Jacopo Guarnieri (Italy)0:03:20
42Salvatore Puccio (Italy)Row 41 - Cell 2
43José Gonçalves (Portugal)0:03:47
44Stephan Rabitsch (Austria)0:04:12
45Tobias Ludvigsson (Sweden)0:04:54
46Samuel Dumoulin (France)Row 45 - Cell 2
47Tosh Van Der Sande (Belgium)Row 46 - Cell 2
48Krists Neilands (Latvia)0:04:59
49Juan Jose Lobato (Spain)0:08:00
50Bryan Coquard (France)0:08:58
51Aleksandr Riabushenko (Belarus)0:15:47
DNFDavide Ballerini (Italy)Row 51 - Cell 2
DNFDamien Touze (France)Row 52 - Cell 2
DNFDylan Van Baarle (Netherlands)Row 53 - Cell 2
DNFPolychronis Tzortzakis (Greece)Row 54 - Cell 2
DNFJan Bárta (Czech Republic)Row 55 - Cell 2
DNFRoger Kluge (Germany)Row 56 - Cell 2
DNFVojtech Haceck_ (Czech Republic)Row 57 - Cell 2
DNFOleksandr Polivoda (Ukraine)Row 58 - Cell 2
DNFAlexander Porsev (Russia)Row 59 - Cell 2
DNFAnthony Turgis (France)Row 60 - Cell 2
DNFJosef Cern_ (Czech Republic)Row 61 - Cell 2
DNFLuka Pibernik (Slovania)Row 62 - Cell 2
DNFMarko Kump (Slovania)Row 63 - Cell 2
DNFBen Swift (Great Britain)Row 64 - Cell 2
DNFLucas Eriksson (Sweden)Row 65 - Cell 2
DNFFabian Lienhard (Switzerland)Row 66 - Cell 2
DNFRok Koro_ec (Slovania)Row 67 - Cell 2
DNFMagnus Cort Nielsen (Denmark)Row 68 - Cell 2
DNFMarcel Meisen (Germany)Row 69 - Cell 2
DNFChristophe Laporte (France)Row 70 - Cell 2
DNFRobert-Jon Mccarthy (Ireland)Row 71 - Cell 2
DNFSylwester Janiszewski (Poland)Row 72 - Cell 2
DNFMarco Canola (Italy)Row 73 - Cell 2
DNFLuka Mezgec (Slovania)Row 74 - Cell 2
DNFPatrik Tybor (Slovakia)Row 75 - Cell 2
DNFDmitrii Strakhov (Russia)Row 76 - Cell 2
DNFDimitri Claeys (Belgium)Row 77 - Cell 2
DNFIan Stannard (Great Britain)Row 78 - Cell 2
DNFOwain Doull (Great Britain)Row 79 - Cell 2
DNFChristopher Lawless (Great Britain)Row 80 - Cell 2
DNFConor Dunne (Ireland)Row 81 - Cell 2
DNFAlan Banaszek (Poland)Row 82 - Cell 2
DNFGonzalo Serrano Rodriguez (Spain)Row 83 - Cell 2
DNFRasmus Fossum Tiller (Norway)Row 84 - Cell 2
DNFSzymon Sajnok (Poland)Row 85 - Cell 2
DNFEduardo Prades Reverter (Spain)Row 86 - Cell 2
DNFEdward Dunbar (Ireland)Row 87 - Cell 2
DNFDries Van Gestel (Belgium)Row 88 - Cell 2
DNFSiarhei Papok (Belarus)Row 89 - Cell 2
DNFMarc Potts (Ireland)Row 90 - Cell 2
DNFMark Christian (Great Britain)Row 91 - Cell 2
DNFLasse Norm Hansen (Denmark)Row 92 - Cell 2
DNFPeter Sagan (Slovakia)Row 93 - Cell 2
DNFMarek Canecky (Slovakia)Row 94 - Cell 2
DNFRui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Portugal)Row 95 - Cell 2
DNFNikolai Shumov (Belarus)Row 96 - Cell 2
DNFAlo Jakin (Estonia)Row 97 - Cell 2
DNFAngelo Tulik (France)Row 98 - Cell 2
DNFAdam Blythe (Great Britain)Row 99 - Cell 2
DNFGrzegorz Stepniak (Poland)Row 100 - Cell 2
DNFSven Erik Bystrøm (Norway)Row 101 - Cell 2
DNFMateusz Komar (Poland)Row 102 - Cell 2
DNFKristoffer Halvorsen (Norway)Row 103 - Cell 2
DNFAugust Jensen (Norway)Row 104 - Cell 2
DNFGustav Höög (Sweden)Row 105 - Cell 2
DNFRamunas Navardauskas (Lithuania)Row 106 - Cell 2
DNFBorut Bozic (Slovania)Row 107 - Cell 2
DNFKarl-Arnold Vendelin (Estonia)Row 108 - Cell 2
DNFMihkel Räim (Estonia)Row 109 - Cell 2
DNFAlois Kankovsk_ (Czech Republic)Row 110 - Cell 2
DNFBranislau Samoilau (Belarus)Row 111 - Cell 2
DNFMartin Mahdar (Slovakia)Row 112 - Cell 2
DNFSondre Holst Enger (Norway)Row 113 - Cell 2
DNFMaksym Vasyliev (Ukraine)Row 114 - Cell 2
DNFPetr Hampl (Czech Republic)Row 115 - Cell 2
DNFLubos Malovec (Slovakia)Row 116 - Cell 2
DNFIvan Garcia Cortina (Spain)Row 117 - Cell 2
DNFRicardo Vilela (Portugal)Row 118 - Cell 2
DNFTiago Machado (Portugal)Row 119 - Cell 2
DNFAlexander Kamp (Denmark)Row 120 - Cell 2
DNFViacheslav Kuznetsov (Russia)Row 121 - Cell 2
DNFRichard Larsen (Sweden)Row 122 - Cell 2
DNFViktor Manakov (Russia)Row 123 - Cell 2
DNFArtem Ovechkin (Russia)Row 124 - Cell 2
DNFCasper Philip Pedersen (Denmark)Row 125 - Cell 2
DNFJose Herrada Lopez (Spain)Row 126 - Cell 2
DNFMichael Carbel Svendgaard (Denmark)Row 127 - Cell 2
DNFRóbert Málik (Slovakia)Row 128 - Cell 2
DNFMads Pedersen (Denmark)Row 129 - Cell 2
DNFVictor De La Parte Gonzalez (Spain)Row 130 - Cell 2
DNFDylan Page (Switzerland)Row 131 - Cell 2
DNFMoreno Hofland (Netherlands)Row 132 - Cell 2
DNFOleksandr Golovash (Ukraine)Row 133 - Cell 2
DNFLars Pria (Romania)Row 134 - Cell 2
DNFHector Saez Benito (Spain)Row 135 - Cell 2

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