On Sunday 10 November, Silvelle (Italy) will host one of the most exciting editions of the Cyclo-Cross European Championships. This small Venetian town, very close to Venice, has been one of the leading organisers of international Cyclo-Cross competitions and will once again be the venue of high level action.
273 riders from 22 countries are registered for this continental event on Sunday (the Masters event will be raced on Saturday with 406 registered riders, a participation record for these Championships). Six titles will be there for the taking: Men Elite (41 riders), Men Juniors (78 riders), Men Under 23 (55 riders), Women Under 23 (31 riders), Women Elite (27 riders) and for the very first time Women Juniors (41 riders).
In the Men’s Elite, we can expect to witness another close fought battle between riders from Belgium and the Netherlands. These two national teams will compete with a line up of their best riders.
The current European Champion, current World Champion and winner on the road of the last Amstel Gold Race, the Dutch star Mathieu van der Poel, back racing last weekend, will be battling against very strong opponents to defend the title won last year in ‘s_Hertogenbosch (Netherlands), along with the Belgians, Toon Aerts, already winner of a European title in 2016 in Pont Château (France) and Eli Iserbyt, who has had an excellent start to the season.
The young Briton Tom Pidcock, a big favourite despite being only 20, after winning two Under 23 World Championships and the bronze medal at the 2019 Road World Championships, has decided to compete in the Elite race.
Among the other big names expected in the final race, will undoubtedly be the Dutchman Lars van der Haar, the Belgian Laurens Sweeck and Michael Vanthourenhout.
The current World Champion Sanne Cant (Belgium) and the 2018 European Champion Annemarie Worst (Netherlands) will be the ones to watch in the Women’s Elite race, along with Maud Kaptheijns and the Italian Alice Maria Arzuffi, who has been on the podium several times at the European Championships in the previous categories.
Due to Tom Pidcock’s debut with the Elite, the Men’s Under 23 will be full of interest. The 2018 Junior European Champion, Pim Ronhaar (Netherlands) will be racing in a higher category and will face stiff competition against the Briton Ben Tullet, the Frenchman Antoine Benoist, the Swiss Loris Rouiller (2017 Junior European Champion) and the Italian Jakob Dorigoni.
In the Women’s events, the Dutch rider Ceylin Del Carmen Alvarado will be the one to watch as well as the Belgians Thibau Nys and Jente Michels.
Rocco Cattaneo, President of the Union Européenne de Cyclisme: «Cycling in Silvelle has always been associated with Cyclo-Cross and it has a long and distinguished history of organising all kinds of categories of races from the very young to the big international events.
For many years this small city in Veneto has been an established venue for the most important races on the Italian calendar and is ready to welcome women and men from the Juniors, Under 23 and Elite categories, as well as the important group of passionate Masters, from 22 countries offering the public very high-level technical races.
Silvelle will host a historic event in a certain respect since it will be the very first time that the title of European Champion will be awarded in the Women’s Juniors category, another step towards gender equality.
On behalf of the Union Européenne de Cyclisme, I would like to thank the Organising Committee ASD GS Silvellese lead by Mauro Zamprogna and all volunteers for their commitment and passion. Past experience has demonstrated that they are a guarantee for the successful organisation of an event. I would also like to especially thank the Italian Cycling Federation and its President, Renato Di Rocco, who has always supported Cyclo-Cross events, as well as the town of Trebaseleghe and its mayor Antonella Zoggia.»
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