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UEC Road European Championship 2018: Elite Men Road Race

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Hello and welcome to the Cyclingnews live coverage of the Elite men's road race at the European Championships in Glasgow.

 

Hello and welcome to the final race of the 2018 European championships.

227km remaining from 230km

The riders rolled out on schedule and we're already seeing some accelerations off the front to form the early break of the day.

Today will be a fascinating race because race radios are not allowed and so riders will have to carefully activate their race tactics.  

The riders face a long day in the saddle for the 230km race on the 16 laps of the Glasgow circuit. 

Last Sunday Marta Bastianelli (Italy) won the sprint to take the Women's European Championship ahead of defending champion Marianne Vos (Netherlands) and Lisa Brennauer (Germany).

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The peloton is chasing to control the attacks but are cautious about the wet roads and tight turns on the city streets.

We have the first flat of the race. August Jensen needs a new wheel. 

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The break has opened a gap of 1:00, sparking a reaction in the peloton. Italy has picked up the pace to keep things under control.  

France and Belgium is also helping with the chase.

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To read what van Avermaet said pre-race, click here.

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After completing the first lap, the riders are back in the city centre, riding through the many corners on different road surfaces.

The 14.4km circuit includes close to 30 corners and so the riders have to relaunch their effort every 500m or so. 

After 44 minutes of racing the riders are heading back to Glasgow Green and the finish line. 

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This is the third edition of the European Championships. 

The riders pass through the feed zine, with Dylan Page of Switzerland opting for a bike change. 

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Davide Cimolai suffers a flat. 

The pace has been steady but the average speed is over 43km/h so far.

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The riders in the break are eating and drinking, and also arguing briefly about the pace. 

Behind the two there are two riders chasing: 

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Riders grab bidons as they pass through the feed zone once again. 

 The not-so-lovely weather continues here, as do the punctures.

The lead group of 5 has a gap of more than 4 minutes on the field, with 178km still to go.

Let's make that 6 riders up front.....

Italy, France and Belgium are keeping control of the field. There is still a long way to go in nasty weather, so we don't expect a lot of action for a while.

Time for a nature break for many riders.

Just a reminder that our leading group of six is: Josef Cerny (Czech Republic), Matthias Krizek (Austria), Robert-jon McCarthy (Ireland), Krists Neilands (Latvia), Roland Thalmann (Switzerland), and Polychronis Tzortzakis (Greece). They have more than five minutes now.

There is a lot of jackets on/jackets off going on now. 

The women had similar weather yesterday when they rode the Vargarda Team Time Trial. Boels-Dolmans won for the third time in a row. We have some reactions from the participants.

The break group crosses the finish line. Only 11 laps to go.....

Now the field crosses the line, giving us a gap of 5:07 with some 155km still to go.

The next puncture is for Vasyliev of the Ukraine.

Denmark's Mads Pedersen takes a new bike.

The big news for the day is that Roman Kreuziger has signed for Dimension Data as of next year. You can read about it here. 

The rain seems to have stopped, at least for the moment, as the break group hits the finish line again. Ten laps to go!

We are not seeing a lot of smiles in the peloton. Which is not really surprising.

The gap is now down to 4:27 with 141 km to go.

Casper Pedersen (DK) takes a new bike.

Kuznetsov of Russia has apparently crashed. He has climbed off his bike and is feeling around for an apparently injured rib or collarbone.

We still have Italy, France and Belgium controlling the pace of the peloton.

The gap is dropping oh so slowly. Now about 3:50 with 132km to go.

A very long tire change for Peter Sagan.

Sagan still working his way back up to the peloton. No worries about him making the connection, though.

Just a reminder of our preview of this race. Will Kristoff repeat his win of last year, or Sagan take his second title? 

Lots of Italy at the front of the field now, with one light-blue Belgium in there.

Another very slow tyre change for Cerny, out of the break group. It took so long it may very well take him out of the break group.

Norway's Enger has pulled over for some bike work. The saddle seems to be slipping down, and apparently there is no replacement bike for him.

The lead group of five hits the finish line and now takes on the second half of the race. 

Cerny crosses the line just about a minute back, but seems to be having bike problems. 

The field comes in at 2:47. Up ahead, the group has more trouble as three of them tumble on a wet corner. No injuries and everyone up and going again.

With 112km to go and the front group in difficulty, Belgium has seemingly decided it is time to pick up the pace.

The five-rider lead group is back together again. The gap has dropped, but we are not told what it is.

A French rider gets a new rear wheel from the neutral service.

WE see Germany up at the front for the first time. They are riding for John Degenkolb.

Several cars, going far too fast, have just passed the front group. Hello, people, can we please think about safety here??

Cerny has caught up with the lead group again but their gap is around 2 minutes with 103 km left.

The mood is not that great in the lead group, as the Austrian rider indicate that he seems to feel he is doing too much of the work. 

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The gap to the break is down to 2:20 now. 

The Italian team is massing on the front as sone of the Belgian riders stop for a natural break. 

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Belgium has placed two riders on the front to shake put the peloton and close down the break.

Peter Sagan is again at the back of the peloton. He seems to be moving back up with a teammate. He suffered a flat earlier. 

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Alexander Kristoff is also in a chase group with Sagan. 

Dries van Gestel has burnt all his matches working on the front to set a high pace.  

Behind Peter Sagan appears to have eased up, his race could be over. He lost contact after a stop and is struggling to get back on.  

Sagan appeared to be suffering in the rain and is likely to stop when he reaches the finish area very soon. 

Sagan suffered in the final stages of the Tour de France and has clearly lost form. However he is expected to ride the Vuelta a Espana to get his season back on track. 

The six riders in the break take it carefully through the 'Greece Corner' where three of them went down on the previous lap.

84km remaining from 230km

Up front the break is still away but the race is coming alive behind. 

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The break is just 30 seconds ahead.

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Riders are being spat out of the back of the peloton. The pure sprinters are going to suffer today.

The peloton is lined out at speed. 

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Flat for Laporte. That's a blow for France. 

Parts of the roads are dry but others are wet. 

Great Britain and the Netherlands are leading the chase.

Cort Nielsen of Denmark flats. That perhaps ends his chances.   

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The gap is only 10 seconds. 

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Mohoric of Slovenia is coming across the gap to join the attack.   

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Race radios are not permitted today and so all tactical decisions have to be made by the riders out on the road.

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Mohoric attacks hard. 

There are only 60 or so riders left up front.

The riders are lined out as van der Poel goes on the front and ups the pace. 

There are lots of Italian Azzurra jersey in the pack. They are covering the moves but also riding for a sprint finish with Colbrelli and Viviani. 

The heavy rain and city roads has created lots of dirt, tired faces. 

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This time its  Xandro Meurisse of Wanty - Groupe Gobert on the attack. 

Behind Davide Ballerini of Italy is leading the chase but the peloton is not concerned by a single rider. 

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Other riders have joined Denz, including van Aert of Belgium and Trentin of Italy.

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The peloton is spread across the road. They are already 1:12 back.

Herrada of Spain is also in the attack. 

Riders grab bidons at the feed zone. They're entering the +200km point of the race very soon.  

These are the riders in the attack. 

Xandro Meurisse and Wout Van Aert are also there for Belgium. 

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This was Mathieu van der Poel before the start. We can surely expect him to go on the attack soon.

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This was Wout van Aert earlier in the race. He has since taken off his cape and made sure he was part of the decisive attack of the race.

Italy has Cimolai and Trentin in the attack and so the Michelton-Scott rider will be expected to fight for the medals.

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There are no attacks on the first steep ramp in the city centre. 

This shot by the Swiss Cycling Federation shows the riders in the break. 

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Riders take last drinks from their bidons. It's almost attack time.

The climbs begin with 10km to go first as the riders continue to take turns on the front.  

Perichon is sat at the back, using the excuse that France is chasing behind. 

These are the ten riders in the attack. 

11km remaining from 230km

Xandro Meurisse is riding to set up van Aert.

Crash!!! 

Half of the break goes down or is delayed!

Lammertink rode into the barriers and other riders touched their brakes and went down.

Cimolai is back on and others are chasing.

Albasini needs a bike change. That would surely end his chances.

Périchon is trying to get back on to the five up front. 

The five up front are: 

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Italy is the only nation with two riders. But will it make a difference? 

Trentin seems to waiting for sprint finish.

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The chasers can see the five on a straight descent section. 

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Trentin carefully watches van Aert and van der Poel on the steep, short climb.

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Cimolai leads the five in the park.

Meurisse is back on and leads out. 

Van der Pole is on Trentin, followed by van Aert.

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Trentin goes early and wins! 

Cimolai set him up and Trentin finished it off.  

It's a double for Italy after Marta Bastianelli won the women's race a week ago. 

Trentin follows Sagan and Kristoff in the record books of the European Championships.  

Cimolai lead out the sprint as he knows how to do. 

This is the top 5.

The Italian squadra is naturally celebrating a big win thanks to Trentin.

This is a screen grab image of the moment Trentin hits the line first in Glasgow.

This is the top ten.

Trentin suffered an difficult spring after his move to Mitchelton-Scott. He spent 40 days off the bike due to a spine fracture but has worked hard to get back to his best.  

Trentin crashed at Paris-Roubaix, suffering a thoracic spine fracture. He didn't race until June but worked hard as others focused on the Tour de France.   

It was a hard day of racing in the rain and cyclo-cross stars Mathieu van der Poel and
Wout van Aert emerged.

Matteo Trentin spoke briefly before the podium ceremony.

This is the first shot of Trentin celebrating his win.

This great shot by Luca Bettini shows the Trentin's joy and the disappointment for van der Peol and van Aert.

Trentin was understandably emotional after his victory. 

And he showed it as he realised he had just become the 2018 European champion.

Click here to read our full race report and see our growing photo gallery of all the action.

This shot from Getty Images is from a different angle but captures Trentin's celebrations.

Trentin took time to thank the people who have helped him during his injuries and time out. 

This UEC shot shows Trentin centre stage on the podium in his new European Champion's jersey. He will wear the white, blue and gold-star jersey for the next 12 months.  

The European Championships was Trentin's 18th career win. His last was Paris-Tours last season, after taking four stage victories at the Vuelta a Espana.

Dirty faces win races. 

As you may have seen, Peter Sagan climbed off with 80km to race in the European Championships.

"I was not in good shape and I still have a lot of pain from the crash at the Tour de France," said Sagan, who crashed on a descent during stage 17 of the French Grand Tour.

We've added more stunning photos from the European Championships to our full race report. 

Thanks for joining us for our full live coverage for the men's European championships.