Sofie van Rooijen and Huub Artz (Netherlands) are the new European Champions in the Under 23 category. The races took place today as part of the Road European Championships, which run until Sunday 15 September in Limburg (Belgium). The day opened with the Women’s race and a particularly fast start (Heusden - Zolder), with the action characterising the race from the outset. At the front of the peloton, a duo consisting of Mikka Holm (Denmark) and Nela Slaníková (Cechia) immediately closed the gap and took a lead of over three minutes. In the final stages, Slaníková remained alone in the lead, but on the last lap of the Hasselt circuit, the peloton regrouped under pressure from the Dutch and Italians. A sprint was inevitable and Sofie van Rooijen completed her team perfectly, with Scarlett Souren taking second place and the bronze medal going to Italy's Elisa Gasparrini. In the afternoon, the Men’s race was very fast. After the start at the Heusden-Zolder velodrome, which will host the European Track Cycling Championships next February, a group consisting of Stian Rosenlund (Denmark), Halvor Sandstad (Norway), Julian Borresch (Germany), Carl Kagevi (Sweden), Mats Wenzel (Luxembourg), Roman Holzer (Switzerland) and Mateusz Gajdulewic (Poland) took the lead. The peloton didn't give them a chance and caught them before they entered the first cobbled section.
The final part of the race was characterised by a long series of attacks, the most important of which came from a group of 14 riders: Alexandre Kess (Luxembourg), Alessandro Borgo (Italy), Niklas Behrens (Germany), Matyas Kopekcy (Cechia), Fabian Weiss (Switzerland), Rasmus Pedersen (Denmark), Steffen De Schuyteneer and Senne Hulsmans (Belgium), Pierre Gautherat, Leandre Lozouet and Matys Grisel (France), Huub Artz, Tibor Del Grosso and Jesse Kramer (Netherlands).
With around sixty kilometres to go, Artz, Lozouet and Behrens attacked from the lead group and quickly gained ground on the chasers and the main group, who were unable to catch them. In the final sprint, Huub Artz edged out Germany's Niklas Behrens. Frenchman Léandre Lozouet took third place.
Tomorrow, Saturday 14 September, starting in Heusden-Zolder and finishing in Hasselt, the European titles will be awarded in the Men Juniors (129.7km, start at 9.00am) and Women Elite (162km, start at 1.30pm) Road races.
