Martin Stošek solos to men's elite title at European Gravel Championships

By published

Czech rider takes victory in Asiago, Italy, with Toby Perry in second and Jenno Berckmoes in third

Martin Stošek solos to victory in the elite men's race at European Gravel Championships
Martin Stošek solos to victory in the elite men's race at European Gravel Championships (Image credit: © Flanders Classics)

Martin Stošek (Czechia) took out the men's elite title at the 2024 UEC Gravel European Championships on Sunday, riding solo to take victory at the 153km race starting and finishing in Italy’s Asiago.

The second edition of the continental championships ran over three gravel laps of a 51km loop set in Italy’s Veneto region, which was home to the last two Gravel World Championships. The race for the rainbow jersey played out in Belgium last weekend, with Mathieu van der Poel (Netherlands) adding another world title to his palmares.

It wasn't the big stars of road racing that took the spotlight at the European Championships but one from the mountain bike cross-country marathon circuit, with Stošek applying his trade for the Canyon Sidi MTB throughout the season.

It was a surprising win for Stošek, with pre-race favourite Gianni Vermeersch (Belgium), who took fifth at the World Championships last weekend, having his race ended by two mechanicals in the opening lap. 

However, once he'd got himself into a key group of six up the hardest climb alongside Perry, Berckmoes, Olivier Godfroid (Belgium), Paul Voß (Germany) and Aleksandr Grigorev (Russia), he showed clear dominance over the rough terrain.

The second edition of the European title race is the first qualifying round for next year’s rainbow jersey battle, which will take place in Nice, France. Jasper Stuyven (Belgium) won the first European title race in Belgium last year.

Stošek not only succeeds Stuyven as the European Gravel Champion but adds this to his top results of second at MTB XC Marathon Worlds in 2023 and sixth from this season.

Results powered by FirstCycling

James Moultrie
James Moultrie
News Writer

James Moultrie is a gold-standard NCTJ journalist who joined Cyclingnews as a News Writer in 2023 after originally contributing as a freelancer for eight months, during which time he also wrote for Eurosport, Rouleur and Cycling Weekly. Prior to joining the team he reported on races such as Paris-Roubaix and the Giro d’Italia Donne for Eurosport and has interviewed some of the sport’s top riders in Chloé Dygert, Lizzie Deignan and Wout van Aert. Outside of cycling, he spends the majority of his time watching other sports – rugby, football, cricket, and American Football to name a few.

Latest on Cyclingnews