Trentin wins European Championships

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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.

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