2021 European Elite Road Championships
Trentino, Italy
European Road Cycling Championships podium history
Road Race: Elite Men | Elite Women
Time Trial: Elite Men | Elite Women
Sunday, September 12: Elite Men's Road Race: Trento - Trento, 179.2 km
Sonny Colbrelli is the new European Road Champion. Dario Belingheri/Bettini photo
Weather at the race city of Trento at 2:45 PM, local time: 29C (84F), sunny, with the wind from the south-southwest at 13 km/hr (8 mph). There is a 1% chance of rain.
The race: Here's the report from winner Sonny Colbrelli's Bahrain Victorious team.
Sonny Colbrelli of the Italian National team beat in a two-man sprint Remco Evenepoel (Belgium), with Benoit Cosnefroy (France) rounding up the podium in third place.
Today, Colbrelli was one of the favourites, coming from a successful season with Bahrain Victorious and recently having won the GC and one stage at the Benelux Tour. The Italian Champion showed his great shape on the European Champs course: a 179.2 km with start and finish in Trento. After the first 73 km in line, the route runs through the “Valle dei Laghi” and the “Monte Bondone”, followed by the final 13.2 km circuit, to be repeated eight times, including the Povo climb (3.6 km at 4.7%).
A course that suited our rider, as surviving the challenging circuit, meant to have the opportunity to play the cards of a fast man in the final flat 4 km.
That was what Colbrelli did, entering in the strong group of riders that attacked with 40km to go, then together with the only Cosnefroy (France) keeping the pace of Remco Evenepoel (Belgium) when he accelerated with 25km to go. After that, he was extraordinary in surviving to the final acceleration of the Belgian rider on the last climb and the only one to resist. It was a duel in the finale: Colbrelli was clever to open the sprint at the right time and take this excellent Road European Champion’s title. It’s the first time a rider of the team has won this prestigious jersey.
Sonny Colbrelli: “It’s amazing. A fantastic victory. I didn’t have a good feeling at the beginning of the race. I had also got a lot of pressure as this race was a huge opportunity for me. But the Italian team worked perfectly, and Trentin, in the final, supported me excellently. Then I managed to follow Evenepoel on the last climb, although I was suffering. I’m so happy also because I took this win in Italy and as an Italian is something special”.
Complete results:
179.2 kilometers raced at an average speed of 41.393 km/hr
| 1 | COLBRELLI Sonny | ITALY | 4hr 19min 45sec |
| 2 | EVENEPOEL Remco | BELGIUM | s.t. |
| 3 | COSNEFROY Benoit | FRANCE | @ 1min 30sec |
| 4 | TRENTIN Matteo | ITALY | 1:44 |
| 5 | POGAAR Tadej | SLOVENIA | s.t. |
| 6 | HIRSCHI Marc | SWITZERLAND | s.t. |
| 7 | HOELGAARD Markus | NORWAY | s.t. |
| 8 | HERMANS Ben | BELGIUM | 1:46 |
| 9 | SIVAKOV Pavel | RUSSIAN FEDERATION | 1:49 |
| 10 | CAMPENAERTS Victor | BELGIUM | 5:41 |
| 11 | DEWULF Stan | BELGIUM | 5:49 |
| 12 | BARDET Romain | FRANCE | s.t. |
| 13 | MOHORIC Matej | SLOVENIA | 5:50 |
| 14 | ALMEIDA João | PORTUGAL | 6:00 |
| 15 | ULISSI Diego | ITALY | s.t. |
| 16 | GESCHKE Simon | GERMANY | s.t. |
| 17 | MOLLEMA Bauke | NETHERLANDS | 6:15 |
| 18 | COSTA Rui | PORTUGAL | 9:13 |
| 19 | BOUWMAN Koen | NETHERLANDS | s.t. |
| 20 | KUKRLE Michael | CZECH REPUBLIC | s.t. |
| 21 | STRAKHOV Dmitrii | RUSSIAN FEDERATION | s.t. |
| 22 | GROSSSCHARTNER Felix | AUSTRIA | s.t. |
| 23 | EIKING Odd Christian | NORWAY | s.t. |
| 24 | BADILATTI Matteo | SWITZERLAND | s.t. |
| 25 | BARGUIL Warren | FRANCE | s.t. |
| 26 | CHERNETSKII Sergei | RUSSIAN FEDERATION | s.t. |
| 27 | REICHENBACH Sébastien | SWITZERLAND | s.t. |
| 28 | OLIVEIRA Nelson | PORTUGAL | s.t. |
| 29 | ADRIA OLIVERAS Roger | SPAIN | 9:16 |
| 30 | MOSCON Gianni | ITALY | 9:21 |
| 31 | VANHOUCKE Harm | BELGIUM | s.t. |
Saturday, Sept 11: Elite Women's road race: Trento - Trento, 107.2 km
Ellen van Dijk solos in to become Women's European Champion.
Weather at the race city of Trento at 3:15 PM, local time: 29C (84F), partly cloudy, with the wond from the south-southwest at 6 km/hr (4 mph). There is a 7% chance of rain.
The race: Here's the race organizer's summary.
The Netherlands lived up to the odds and expectations by claiming the Women’s Elite Road Race title in Trento at the UEC Road European Championships – Trentino 2021; they just did it in a different way than most would have expected.
The Orange team won the fifth Women’s RR title in six editions of the continental event, confirming a supremacy that has lasted for years, only interrupted by the unexpected victory of Austrian Kiesenhofer at the Tokyo Olympics.
After winning four European time trial titles, Ellen Van Dijk showed up to the appointment with her opportunity in the road race, delivering with a great long-range action. Behind her on the podium were Germany’s Liane Lippert and Lithuania’s Rasa Leleivyte.
It took more than half of the total 107.2 km (eight laps of the circuit) for the Women’s Elite road race to find its turning point. Ellen Van Dijk went on the attack, bringing with her Italian Soraya Paladin, German Romy Kasper and French Aude Biannic.
As the laps passed, the pace of Van Dijk exhausted the opponents who inexorably faded: first Biannic, then Kasper, and finally also a combative Soraya Paladin raised the white flag in the penultimate time on the Povo climb. Back in the peloton, Belgium and Germany tried to organize the chase, the latter setting up the attack of Lippert. The German’s acceleration generated a group with Italy’s Longo Borghini and Cavalli, Pole Niewiadoma, Swiss Reusser – the European TT champion, – Lithuanian Leleivyte, Belarusian Amialiusik and two fellow Dutch riders, Van Vleuten and Vollering.
The chasing group managed to come within second, but struggled to find an agreement and Van Dijk took advantage of it on the descent, opening a one minute gap.
On the last Povo ascent, Lippert and Niewiadoma tried to increase the pace again, but gold was already gone. The German confirmed to be the strongest of the chasing group by winning silver in the sprint; bronze for surprising Lithuanian Leleivyte ahead of the Pole Niewiadoma and fellow Dutch Vollering.
The party, however, was for Ellen Van Dijk, who after four European time trial titles wore the road race European champion’s jersey for the very first time. “I didn’t expect it, my role was to support my teammates, but I felt good and I wanted to go on the breakaway. Little by little I managed to outpace all the others, also because it was my only way to try and win, not being the best sprinter. In the finale, I didn’t know the chasers had come that close, and maybe it was better this way .. “
Complete results:
107.2 kilometers raced at an average speed of 37.704 km/hr
| 1 | VAN DIJK Ellen | NETHERLANDS | 2hr 50min 35sec |
| 2 | LIPPERT Liane | GERMANY | @ 1min 18sec |
| 3 | LELEIVYTE Rasa | LITHUANIA | s.t. |
| 4 | NIEWIADOMA Katarzyna | POLAND | s.t. |
| 5 | VOLLERING Demi | NETHERLANDS | s.t. |
| 6 | CAVALLI Marta | ITALY | s.t. |
| 7 | REUSSER Marlen | SWITZERLAND | s.t. |
| 8 | AMIALIUSIK Alena | BELARUS | s.t. |
| 9 | VAN VLEUTEN Annemiek | NETHERLANDS | 1:21 |
| 10 | BALSAMO Elisa | ITALY | 2:29 |
| 11 | BRENNAUER Lisa | GERMANY | s.t. |
| 12 | MACKAIJ Floortje | NETHERLANDS | s.t. |
| 13 | BUJAK Eugenia | SLOVENIA | s.t. |
| 14 | KOPECKY Lotte | BELGIUM | s.t. |
| 15 | CHABBEY Elise | SWITZERLAND | s.t. |
| 16 | PIETERS Amy | NETHERLANDS | s.t. |
| 17 | MARKUS Riejanne | NETHERLANDS | s.t. |
| 18 | LABOUS Juliette | FRANCE | s.t. |
| 19 | MERINO CORTAZAR Eider | SPAIN | s.t. |
| 20 | HAMMES Kathrin | GERMANY | s.t. |
| 21 | SHAPIRA Omer | ISRAEL | s.t. |
| 22 | AALERUD Katrine | NORWAY | s.t. |
| 23 | ŽIGART Urška | SLOVENIA | s.t. |
| 24 | MAGNALDI Erica | ITALY | 2:44 |
| 25 | LACH Marta | POLAND | 4:19 |
| 26 | GUILMAN Victorie | FRANCE | s.t. |
| 27 | DRONOVA Tamara | RUSSIAN FEDERATION | s.t. |
| 28 | NILSSON Hanna | SWEDEN | 4:21 |
| 29 | OTTESTAD Mie Bjørndal | NORWAY | 5:58 |
| 30 | LECHNER Corinna | GERMANY | 6:32 |
| 31 | ANDERSEN Susanne | NORWAY | s.t. |
| 32 | LONGO BORGHINI Elisa | ITALY | 7:10 |
Sept 9: Elite Men's individual time trial, 22.4 km
Stefan Küng starts his winning ride.
The race: Here's the organizer's summary.
The Swiss specialist gets another gold in the European Road Championships, the second in a row. Top class podium with Italian Filippo Ganna and Belgian Remco Evenepoel
Stefan Küng confirmed himself as ITT continental champion. At the UEC Road European Championships – Trentino 2021, the Suisse rider clocked on 24:29.85, beating top level opponents such as ITT World Champion Filippo Ganna (silver medal with 24:37.55) and former many times European gold medal Remco Evenepoel (bronze, 24:44.41). After a first part of the race with Ganna leader, Küng stepped up in the second half and gained around 10” on the Italian specialist, thanks to an average speed of 54.86 km/h. Together with Marlen Reusser, Switzerland got both élite titles in the time trials.
Küng: “Winning is always hard and today almost all TT specialist were here. It’s nice I was able to keep the European jersey. I felt very confident, even though my latest performance in the Benelux Tour wasn’t that good. At the Olympic Games in Tokyo I went very close to a medal and I knew I had to give my very best to get this medal.
"Throughout the year I grazed victories many times and finally I got it in such an important event. I’m sure this will give me some mental advantage towards the World Championships.
"Yesterday Marlen (Reusser, fellow countrywoman and winner of the Elite Women ITT, ed) told me we were both going to win and that’s what happened! I have to thank the Suisse Federation for have everything perfect and in place when it comes to these moments”.
Ganna: “A silver medal is a nice result, in TT races the gaps are really short and I lost by a few seconds. Sure thing is that I don’t regret taking part in the Team Relay, I’m proud we won that medal (with Italy, ed.). I don’t know if it affected my Individual performance today, but I would do it again. I even had some hard trainings towards the WC and I can’t think about a second place as a bad result: in the end I’m still wearing the World Champion jersey“
Evenepoel: “I’m happy for the bronze medal because I think that was the maximum I could achieve today, given the names at the starting grid. It’s quite special to find back my best legs or something close to that. After the crazy crash of last year it’s a relief, it feels good, I’m proud of being here and compete at this level again. Recently I didn’t feel 100% but I’m better now and looking forward to the Road Race on Sunday“.
Complete results:
22.4 kilometers raced at an average speed of 54.86 km/hr
| 1 | KÜNG Stefan | SWITZERLAND | 24min 29.9sec |
| 2 | GANNA Filippo | ITALY | @ 7.7sec |
| 3 | EVENEPOEL Remco | BELGIUM | 14.6 |
| 4 | BISSEGGER Stefan | SWITZERLAND | 23.1 |
| 5 | WALSCHEID Maximilian Richard | GERMANY | 38.1 |
| 6 | AFFINI Edoardo | ITALY | 38.4 |
| 7 | ASGREEN Kasper | DENMARK | 51.2 |
| 8 | BODNAR Maciej | POLAND | 1:04.0 |
| 9 | CAVAGNA Rémi | FRANCE | 1:05.7 |
| 10 | ALMEIDA João | PORTUGAL | 1:16.2 |
| 11 | VAN EMDEN Jos | NETHERLANDS | 1:17.1 |
| 12 | POGAČAR Tadej | SLOVENIA | 1:21.1 |
| 13 | HERREGODTS Rune | BELGIUM | 1:29.4 |
| 14 | REIS Rafael | PORTUGAL | 1:33.3 |
| 15 | ARMIRAIL Bruno | FRANCE | 1:34.4 |
| 16 | HEIDEMANN Miguel | GERMANY | 1:37.8 |
| 17 | BÁRTA Jan | CZECH REPUBLIC | 1:50.5 |
| 18 | MULLEN Ryan | IRELAND | 2:09.5 |
| 19 | NYCH Artem | RUSSIAN FEDERATION | 2:09.7 |
| 20 | RITZINGER Felix | AUSTRIA | 2:12.1 |
| 21 | BJERG Mikkel | DENMARK | 2:13.2 |
| 22 | ILIĆ Ognjen | SERBIA | 2:16.7 |
| 23 | PEÁK Barnabás | HUNGARY | 2:17.5 |
| 24 | VAN DEN BERG Julius | NETHERLANDS | 2:20.6 |
| 25 | MILTIADIS Andreas | CYPRUS | 2:30.0 |
| 26 | OVECHKIN Artem | RUSSIAN FEDERATION | 2:33.7 |
| 27 | KONONENKO Mykhaylo | UKRAINE | 2:35.0 |
| 28 | PELIKÁN János Zsombor | HUNGARY | 2:37.0 |
| 29 | MC DUNPHY Conn | IRELAND | 2:41.7 |
| 30 | GOLDSTEIN Omer | ISRAEL | 2:41.7 |
| 31 | HOLOVASH Oleksandr | UKRAINE | 2:50.7 |
| 32 | PELTONEN Ukko | FINLAND | 2:54.0 |
| 33 | PETROVSKI Andrej | NORTH MACEDONIA | 3:08.3 |
| 34 | RIES Michel | LUXEMBOURG | 3:08.9 |
| 35 | GYUROV Spas | BULGARIA | 3:31.7 |
| 36 | LAŠINIS Venantas | LITHUANIA | 4:01.3 |
| 37 | OMARSSON Ingvar | ICELAND | 4:03.2 |
| 38 | KUBA Ronald | SLOVAKIA | 4:14.7 |
| 39 | SISKEVICIUS Evaldas | LITHUANIA | 5:03.4 |
Sept 9: Elite Women's Individual Time Trial, 22.4 km
Marlen Reusser was the fastest. Bettini photo
The race: Here's the organizer's summary.
The Swiss athlete Marlen Reusser put up a show and conquered the gold medal at the UEC Road European Championships – Trentino 2021 ahead of fellow specialists Ellen Van Dijk (Netherlands) and Lisa Brennauer (Germany)
Huge performance by Marlen Reusser: the Swiss athlete, bronze medalist last year in Plouay, dominated the Trentino 2021 Elite Women’s time trial, race since the start, being always ahead of her opponents. Almost 50 km/h average speed in the 22,4 km route from MUSE – Museum of Sciences to Piazza delle Donne Lavoratrici in Trento, clocking on 27:12.95. No chance even for a top category specialist such as Dutch Ellen Van Dijk (4 European TT golds), silver with a gap of 19-seconds and German Lisa Brennauer, further behind with more than one minute.
Marlen Reusser: “I’m exhausted but super happy, and if you’re not exhausted at the finish line means you didn’t do enough. I knew I had good legs but you never know, Ellen [Van Dijk] and Lisa [Brennauer] were also going strong. It was a beautuful course with interesting techincal details that and I would like to thanks to the OC for that. Also, this is a special area for my coach [Edi Telser], so winning here is even better. Now I will focus on the Road Race with the Swiss Team, which I love to race with“.
Ellen Van Dijk: “I had the privilege to win this race 4 times and the bar for me is set very high, but I knew it would have been a tough race. Marlen [Reusser] beat me already in the last weeks so it’s no surprise. Now let’s go for the road race on Saturday, where we have a very strong team”.
Lisa Brennauer: “The level was really high, I haven’t been 100% after the OG and I knew Marlen [Reusser] and Ellen [Van Dijk] and were faster than me. I’m definitely satisfied with my results and looking forward to the road race“.
Complete results:
22.4 kilometers raced at an average speed of 49.38 km/hr
| 1 | REUSSER Marlen | SWITZERLAND | 27min 12.9sec |
| 2 | VAN DIJK Ellen | NETHERLANDS | @ 19.3sec |
| 3 | BRENNAUER Lisa | GERMANY | 1:02.3 |
| 4 | KLEIN Lisa | GERMANY | 1:22.1 |
| 5 | MARKUS Riejanne | NETHERLANDS | 1:43.2 |
| 6 | KONONENKO Valeriya | UKRAINE | 1:51.8 |
| 7 | KIESENHOFER Anna | AUSTRIA | 1:59.6 |
| 8 | BUSSI Vittoria | ITALY | 2:08.9 |
| 9 | VAN DE VEL Sara | BELGIUM | 2:13.0 |
| 10 | JØRGENSEN Emma Cecilie | DENMARK | 2:17.5 |
| 11 | EKLUND Nathalie | SWEDEN | 2:25.4 |
| 12 | AMIALIUSIK Alena | BELARUS | 2:28.2 |
| 13 | DUYCK Ann-Sophie | BELGIUM | 2:30.3 |
| 14 | NERLO Aurela | POLAND | 2:31.8 |
| 15 | CORDON RAGOT Audrey | FRANCE | 2:35.9 |
| 16 | AALERUD Katrine | NORWAY | 2:38.8 |
| 17 | DRONOVA Tamara | RUSSIAN FEDERATION | 2:40.5 |
| 18 | SHAPIRA Omer | ISRAEL | 2:41.7 |
| 19 | KARASIEWICZ Karolina | POLAND | 2:48.6 |
| 20 | CHABBEY Elise | SWITZERLAND | 2:49.8 |
| 21 | SOLOVEI Ganna | UKRAINE | 3:00.9 |
| 22 | ROZLAPA Dana | LATVIA | 3:02.3 |
| 23 | BUJAK Eugenia | SLOVENIA | 3:06.1 |
| 24 | ERHARTER Gabriela | AUSTRIA | 3:17.8 |
| 25 | CECCHINI Elena | ITALY | 3:29.8 |
| 26 | ANTOSHINA Tatiana | RUSSIAN FEDERATION | 3:37.9 |
| 27 | GAFINOVITZ Rotem | ISRAEL | 3:43.7 |
| 28 | FABER Claire | LUXEMBOURG | 3:47.8 |
| 29 | OYARBIDE JIMENEZ Lourdes | SPAIN | 4:09.9 |
| 30 | SIGURÐARDÓTTIR Hafdís | ICELAND | 4:24.4 |
| 31 | RODRIGUEZ SANCHEZ Gloria | SPAIN | 4:51.6 |
| 32 | SENKUTĖ Viktorija | LITHUANIA | 5:05.8 |
| 33 | MEDVEDOVA Tereza | SLOVAKIA | 6:15.9 |