Bastianelli claims European Road Race title
Vos, Brennauer out-paced in cat-and-mouse finale
Marta Bastianelli (Italy) won the sprint of a reduced group to win the Women's European Championship ahead of defending champion Marianne Vos (Netherlands) and Lisa Brennauer (Germany).
"It's a very hard race, and this win is for my team, because my teammates stayed with me from start to finish," Bastianelli said.
"The sprint was very hard but I think it was very technical. Yesterday we said we had to be top three in the last corner. It was crazy, because it was very hard and fast. I don't know how many kilometers per hour it was but it was very hard."
The race was marked by numerous break groups, with the last being caught with only 1km to go. The Dutch women dominated much of the day, but in the end they were unable to use their advantage.
Several breakaways formed and were caught before a quintet established itself: Lucinda Brand (Netherlands), Lisa Klein (Germany), Nadia Quagliotto (Italy), Juliette Labous (France) and Sophie Wright (Great Britain). Approaching the finish line to start on the fifth lap, Klein jumped from the group, crossing some 30 seconds behind Wright and 19 seconds ahead of the other three, with the field at 2:14.
With 61km to go, the gap to Wright, now alone, had grown to over a minute, with the field more than 2:30 down. They started giving serious chase, with Spain and the Netherlands leading the way. The gaps stayed roughly the same as the sixth lap started, the peloton having relaxed its efforts.
The big names suddenly became more active, unwilling to let the 19-year-old Briton take the race unchallenged. With 48km to go the gap had dropped to under two minutes, with most of the pressure coming from Germany and the Netherlands. A crash near the end of the lap involved Labous, who appeared to be injured.
The start of the next lap saw the gap down to just under a minute, with constant attacks coming from the field. They soon had Wright in their sights. After she was caught, a new lead group consisting of World Champion Chantal Blaak (Netherlands), Alice Barnes (Great Britain) and Elena Cecchini (Italy) formed. They went into the penultimate lap with 24 seconds over a greatly diminished peloton.
The German women went to the head of the field, and led to the catch with 22.3km to go. The Dutch didn't let up, attacking one after the other. Anna van der Breggen (Netherlands) and Elisa Longo Borghini (Italy) formed a dangerous lead group with 21km left. Great Britain's Dani Rowe moved up on the ascent, the only one able to make a dent in the gap. She made it up to the two leaders just before the end of the lap.
This trio set out on the final lap with a 40-seconds lead. Floortje Mackaij (Netherlands) and Aude Biannic (France) gave chase, and caught up with 11.5km to go. Despite their riders up front, the Dutch continued to lead the chasing group.
With just under 8km to go, Van der Breggen attacked, and only Longo Borghini could go with her. The three chasers soon faded back into the peloton. It looked as though the duo would stay away, but with Van der Breggen refusing to pull and Longo Borghini unable to get rid of the Olympic champion, their cooperation stalled. They were caught at the 1km marker, leaving a group of about 25 to contest the sprint.
Orange jerseys led the way to the finish, but it was Marta Bastianelli (Italy) who jumped for the win, ahead of Marianne Vos (Netherlands) and Lisa Brennauer (Germany).
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Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Marta Bastianelli (Italy) | 3:28:15 |
2 | Marianne Vos (Netherlands) | |
3 | Lisa Brennauer (Germany) | |
4 | Elena Cecchini (Italy) | |
5 | Rasa Leleivyte (Lithuania) | |
6 | Christina Malling Siggaard (Denmark) | |
7 | Kaat Hannes (Belgium) | |
8 | Anna Van Der Breggen (Netherlands) | |
9 | Lorena Wiebes (Netherlands) | |
10 | Danielle Rowe (Great Britain) | |
11 | Floortje Mackaij (Netherlands) | |
12 | Christine Majerus (Luxembourg) | |
13 | Eugenia Bujak (Slovenia) | |
14 | Giorgia Bronzini (Italy) | |
15 | Elisa Longo Borghini (Italy) | |
16 | Emilia Fahlin (Sweden) | |
17 | Anastasiia Iakovenko (Russian Federation) | |
18 | Aude Biannic (France) | |
19 | Ellen Van Dijk (Netherlands) | |
20 | Dani Christmas (Great Britain) | |
21 | Lucinda Brand (Netherlands) | 0:00:06 |
22 | Sofie De Vuyst (Belgium) | |
23 | Chantal Blaak (Netherlands) | 0:00:08 |
24 | Liane Lippert (Germany) | |
25 | Maria Giulia Confalonieri (Italy) | |
26 | Marta Cavalli (Italy) | 0:00:10 |
27 | Polona Batagelj (Slovenia) | 0:00:14 |
28 | Hanna Nilsson (Sweden) | 0:00:15 |
29 | Soraya Paladin (Italy) | 0:00:37 |
30 | Nadia Quagliotto (Italy) | 0:00:42 |
31 | Eugénie Duval (France) | |
32 | Alice Barnes (Great Britain) | 0:03:08 |
33 | Olga Shekel (Ukraine) | 0:03:47 |
34 | Anna Henderson (Great Britain) | |
35 | Alice Sharpe (Ireland) | |
36 | Daiva Ragazinskiene (Lithuania) | |
37 | Rikke Lønne (Denmark) | |
38 | Ellen Van Loy (Belgium) | |
39 | Nicola Juniper (Great Britain) | |
40 | Abby-Mae Parkinson (Great Britain) | |
41 | Yevgeniya Vysotska (Ukraine) | |
42 | Alba Teruel Ribes (Spain) | |
43 | Omer Shapira (Israel) | |
44 | Sara Penton (Sweden) | |
45 | Olena Sharga (Ukraine) | |
46 | Victorie Guilman (France) | |
47 | Lisa Klein (Germany) | |
48 | Clara Koppenburg (Germany) | |
49 | Nicole Hanselmann (Switzerland) | |
50 | Sabrina Stultiens (Netherlands) | |
51 | Martina Ritter (Austria) | |
52 | Kathrin Hammes (Germany) | |
53 | Trixi Worrack (Germany) | |
54 | Susanne Andersen (Norway) | |
55 | Pernille Mathiesen (Denmark) | |
56 | Sophie Wright (Great Britain) | 0:04:45 |
57 | Špela Kern (Slovenia) | 0:05:50 |
58 | Annelies Dom (Belgium) | |
59 | Tereza Medvedova (Slovakia) | |
60 | Anabelle Dreville (France) | |
61 | Alicia Gonzalez Blanco (Spain) | |
62 | Sarah Rijkes (Austria) | |
63 | Charlotte Bravard (France) | |
64 | Ana Maria Covrig (Romania) | |
DNF | Désirée Ehrler (Switzerland) | |
DNF | Lija Laizane (Latvia) | |
DNF | Emilie Moberg (Norway) | |
DNF | Olena Pavlukhina (Azerbaijan) | |
DNF | Elizabeth Banks (Great Britain) | |
DNF | Rotem Gafinovitz (Israel) | |
DNF | Tetiana Riabchenko (Ukraine) | |
DNF | Ane Santesteban Gonzalez (Spain) | |
DNF | Charlotte Becker (Germany) | |
DNF | Urša Pintar (Slovenia) | |
DNF | Mieke Kröger (Germany) | |
DNF | Katarzyna Wilkos (Poland) | |
DNF | Katarzyna Pawlowska (Poland) | |
DNF | Elizaveta Oshurkova (Russian Federation) | |
DNF | Stine Borgli (Norway) | |
DNF | Aurela Nerlo (Poland) | |
DNF | Audrey Cordon Ragot (France) | |
DNF | Lotta Lepistö (Finland) | |
DNF | Juliette Labous (France) | |
DNF | Valerie Demey (Belgium) | |
DNF | Severine Eraud (France) | |
DNF | Louise Norman Hansen (Denmark) | |
DNF | Antonia Gröndahl (Finland) | |
DNF | Lourdes Oyarbide (Spain) | |
DNF | Melissa Van Neck (Czech Republic) | |
DNF | Gloria Rodriguez Sanchez (Spain) | |
DNF | Elise Maes (Luxembourg) | |
DNF | Monika Brzezna (Poland) | |
DNF | Karolina Karasiewicz (Poland) | |
DNF | Line Marie Gulliksen (Norway) | |
DNF | Margarita Syradoeva (Russian Federation) | |
DNF | Lucia Gonzalez B. (Spain) | |
DNF | Kathrin Schweinberger (Austria) | |
DNF | Tatiana Jaseková (Slovakia) | |
DNF | Anastasiia Pliaskina (Russian Federation) | |
DNF | Anastasiya Dzedzikava (Belarus) | |
DNF | Sara Mustonen (Sweden) | |
DNF | Sanne Cant (Belgium) | |
DNF | Anna Plichta (Poland) | |
DNF | Liisa Ehrberg (Estonia) | |
DNF | Avital Gez (Israel) | |
DNF | Laura Vainionpää (Finland) | |
DNS | Chantal Hoffmann (Luxembourg) |

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