European Cycling Championships 2023: All information about the European Championship races in the province of Drenthe
Sebastian Lindner
· 18.09.2023
"Around the rubbish tip" may sound more like a funfair race, but this year it is the motto for the European Road Championships in the Netherlands in the province of Drenthe. The area between Zwolle, Groningen and the border with Lower Saxony is completely flat and there are no mountains. At least naturally formed ones.
VAM mountain is the main component of all road races
At more than 60 metres high, a landfill site near the village of Wijster is the highest point in the region and a landmark visible from afar that has increasingly developed into a centre for cycling in recent years. Since 2018, a mountain bike park has been built on the VAM mountain - the name is based on that of the former operator, connections to the similarly named method for measuring performance are rather coincidental - in addition to several asphalted and partly paved up to 15 per cent steep ramps for racing bikes.
The European Cross-Country Championships were held here in 2021, followed by the Dutch Road Championships a year later. In 2023, the VAM Hill will be the venue for all European Championship road races from the juniors to the elite men. Only the time trials avoid the climb and are completely flat.
Overview of all competitions at Euro 2023
Wednesday, 20 September
- Individual time trial juniors, 9 to 10:10 am
- Individual time trial juniors, 10:25 bi s 11:45 a.m.
- Individual time trial U23 women, 12 to 12:45 pm
- Individual time trial U23 men, 13:05 to 14:10
- Elite women's individual time trial, 14:30 to 15:50
- Individual time trial elite men, 16:15 to 17:45
Thursday, 21 September
- Mixed relay juniors, 12:45 to 14:25
- Elite mixed relay, 15:30 to 17:10
Friday, 22 September
- Road race U23 men, 9:30 to 12:45
- Road race U23 women, 14:30 to 17:10
Saturday, 23 September
- Junior road race, 9 to 11:45 am
- Elite women's road race, 13:30 to 17:00
Sunday, 24 September
- Junior road race, 9 to 11:15 am
- Elite men's road race, 12:30 to 17:00
Elite only joined in 2016, Netherlands dominate
After the elite European Championships 2022 were held in Munich as part of the cross-sport European Championships and the Road World Championships this year at the mega event in Scotland - for which the European Championships and World Championships have swapped dates - were just one of 14 cycling world title events, this time the battle for the white and blue jerseys with the yellow stars will be a little more tranquil again.
The European Road Championships have been held annually since 1995, with the Netherlands hosting the competitions for the fourth time. The elite riders have only been taking part since 2016. Until the juniors were added in 2005, it was purely an U23 event. However, the participation of the elite has given the event a little more glamour.
And so far it has shone above all in the colours of this year's host nation. In the women's competition, only three of the 14 individual titles awarded so far have not gone to the Dutch. Because Fabio Jakobsen also won the first European Championship title for the Orange men in Munich and the 2019 mixed relay, which was raced for the first time this year, also went to the Netherlands, the country clearly leads the elite medal table with 13 titles. Italy follows with five road gold medals and the last mixed title so far in 2021, ahead of Switzerland. The last five individual time trial titles went there.
The routes of the 2023 European Cycling Championships
Individual time trial junior women, juniors, U23 women & U23 men | Wednesday, 20 September | Wildlands Zoo Emmen - Emmen | 20.6 kilometres
The Union Européenne de Cyclisme, the European Cycling Union (UEC), has set a tight schedule for the opening event. All six individual time trials will be held one after the other on one day. And four of them on an identical lap. The juniors as well as the women's U23 - which, unlike recently at the World Championships, will have their own competitions and will not be integrated into the elite - and the men will complete the same course.
The course is 20.6 kilometres long, starting at the Wildlands Zoo in Emmen and ending in the town of 56,000 inhabitants. It is neither particularly twisty nor is it peppered with any topographical difficulties worth mentioning. High-speed races are therefore to be expected.
Results individual time trial juniors
- Federica Venturelli (Italy) 26:23
- Stina Kagevi (Sweden) +0:24
- Hannah Kunz (Germany) +0:33
- Tabea Huys (Austria) +0:41
- Fee Knaven (Netherlands) +0:46
- Alberte Greve (Denmark) +0:58
- Zoe van Velzen (Netherlands) +1:14
- Alice Toniolli (Italy) +1:22
- Ella Wahlström (Sweden) +1:33
- Lucy Benezet-Minns (Ireland) +1:55
Results individual time trial juniors
- Albert Philipsen (Denmark) 22:48
- Jorgen Nordhagen (Norway) +0:47
- Sente Sentjens (Belgium) +0:49
- Lars Vanden Heede (Belgium) +1:02
- Luca Giaimi (Italy) +1:03
- Louis Leidert (Germany) +1:05
- Markel Beloki (Spain) +1:11
- Pavel Sumpik (Czech Republic) +1:12
- Carl Emil Pedersen (Denmark) +1:14
- Adam Rafferty (Ireland) +1:15
Results individual time trial U23 women
- Zoe Backstedt (Great Britain) 24:25
- Antonia Niedermaier (Germany) +0:58
- Anniina Ahtosalo (Finland) +1:34
- Nora Jencusova (Slovakia) +1:36
- Wilma Aintila (Finland) +1:38
- Julie De Wilde (Belgium) +1:41
- Eglantine Rayer (France) +1:57
- Maud Rijnbeek (Netherlands) +2:00
- Cedrine Kerbaol (France) +2:02
- Gaia Masetti (Italy) +2:06
Results individual time trial U23 men
- Alec Seagert (Belgium) 22:02
- Carl-Frederik Bevort (Denmark) +0:38
- Gustav Wang (Denmark) +0:52
- Ivan Romeo (Spain) +0:56
- Aivaras Mikutis (Lithuania) +0:57
- Raul Garcia (Spain) +0:58
- Kacper Gieryk (Poland) +1:02
- Axel van der Tuuk (Netherlands) +1:07
- Eddy Le Huitouze (France) +1:08
Individual time trial elite women & elite men | Wednesday, 20 September | Wildlands Zoo Emmen - Emmen | 29.5 kilometres
Immediately after the U19 and U23 have finished their races, the elite set off on the course. First the women, then the men. The course is essentially similar, starting at the zoo and finishing in the city. An extension at the north-western corner of the course increases the distance to 29.5 kilometres. There are also two long straights and a 180-degree turnaround. This does not change the level of difficulty - it remains at the lowest end of the scale.
Results individual time trial elite women
- Marlen Reusser (Switzerland) 35:53
- Anna Henderson (Great Britain) +0:43
- Christina Schweinberger (Austria) +0:44
- Audrey Cordon-Ragot (France) +0:48
- Lotte Kopecky (Belgium) +0:49
- Anne Kiesenhofer (Austria) +0:56
- Riejanne Markus (Netherlands) +1:00
- Eugenia Bujak (Slovenia) +1:09
- Elinor Barker (Great Britain) +1:12
- Valeriya Kononenko (Ukraine) +1:22
Results individual time trial elite men
- Joshua Tarling (Great Britain) 31:30
- Stefan Bissegger (Switzerland) +0:42
- Wout Van Aert (Belgium) +0:43
- Mikkel Bjerg (Denmark) +1:09
- Mattia Cattaneo (Italy) +1:13
- Nelson Oliveira (Portugal) +1:15
- Daan Hoole (Netherlands) +1:22
- Remi Cavagna (France) +1:25
- Yves Lampaert (Belgium) +1:25
- Sjoerd Bax (Netherlands) +1:29
Mixed relay juniors & elite | Thursday, 21 September | Emmen - Emmen | 38.4 kilometres
A mixed relay has been part of the European Championships programme since 2019. From 2019 to 2021, the elite raced the competition. Not in 2022. Last year, the UEC sent both a junior and an U23 relay team onto the track for the first time. However, instead of three women and three men, there were only pairs in each event.
Things are different again this year. The U23 mixed race has been cancelled, but there will be an elite race again. The juniors are also back, but this time with six riders like the elite.
The course, on the other hand, is less complicated. Apart from a few details, it corresponds to the small time trial circuit. This is because the start is not at the zoo, but on the main road in Emmen, where all time trials also finish. This shortens the course to 19.2 kilometres, but primarily reduces the number of bends in order to avoid even more potential risks.
Juniors and elite riders each complete two laps - first one for the men, then one for the women. The time is measured after the second rider.
Results mixed relay juniors
- Italy 48:14 minutes
- Germany +0:25
- France +0:42
- Netherlands +0:44
- Belgium +0:53
- Poland +0:44
- Slovenia +1:41
- Lithuania +2:37
- Switzerland +2:56
- Ukraine +3:38
- Finland +3:38
Results mixed relay elite
- France (Bruno Armirail, Remi Cavagna, Benjamin Thomas, Audrey Cordon-Ragot, Cedrine Kerbaol, Juliette Labous) 44:23 minutes
- Italy (Edoardo Affini, Matteo Sobrero, Mattia Cattaneo, Elena Cecchini, Vittoria Guazzini, Soraya Paladin) +0:04
- Germany (Miguel Heidemann, Jannik Steimle, Max Walscheid, Lisa Klein, Franziska Koch, Mieke Kröger)+0:23
- Netherlands (Sjoerd Bax, Dan Hoole, Jos van Emden, Loes Adegeest, Riejanne Markus, Shirin van Anrooij) +0:24
- Poland (Maciej Bodnar, Piotr Broznya, Michal Kwiatkowski, Katarzyna Niewiadoma, Marta Jaskulska, Karolina Kumiega) +0:39
- Switzerland (Stefan Bissegger, Fabio Christen, Johan Jacobs, Elise Chabbey, Marlen Reusser, Nicole Koller) +0:57
- Belgium (Siebe Deweirdt, Victor Vercouillie, Jelle Vermoote, Fauve Bastiaenessen, Valerie Demey, Sara Van De Vel) +3:46
- Ukraine (Serhii Sydor, Dmytro Polupan, Yan Pastushenko, Maryna Altukhova, Yuliia Biriukova, Olha Kulynych) +4:34
U23 men's road race | Friday, 22 September | Hoogeveen - VAM-Berg | 136.5 kilometres
The U23 men will kick off the road races this year. They start in Hoogeveen, a town not far from the finish on the VAM hill. However, via a loop to the east and anti-clockwise, they still have a few kilometres between them and the 13.7 kilometre long finish laps around and over the mountain. Five of these are planned.
Results road race U23 men
- Henrik Pedersen (Denmark) 3:00:12
- Ivan Romeo (Spain) +0:25
- Paul Magnier (France) +0:37
- Madis Mihkels (Estand) +0:38
- Matyas Kopecky (Czech Republic) +0:38
- Tim Torn Teutenberg (Germany) +0:38
- Francesco Busatto (Italy) +0:38
- Fabio Christen (Switzerland) +0:38
- Davide de Pretto (Italy) +0:40
- Henri Uhlig (Germany) +0:40
Road race U23 women | Friday, 22 September | Coevorden - VAM-Berg | 108 kilometres
It doesn't matter so much in the time trial - in the road race it makes a huge difference. It should be a relief for the U23 women to be able to ride their own race as opposed to the World Championships. After finishing their race on the VAM mountain, the women set off.
But not from Hoogeveen, where the first race started on Friday. This is because it is the stated aim of the province of Drenthe to involve as many municipalities as possible in the European Championships. This means that each of the road races has a different starting location. The U23 women will start in Coevorden and then cover almost 40 kilometres, mainly heading north, before taking on the VAM mountain circuit five more times. All in all, that's 108 kilometres.
Results road race U23 women
- Ilse Pluimers (Netherlands) 2:46:33
- Anna Shackley (Great Britain) +0:01
- Linda Zanetti (Switzerland) +0:01
- Gaia Masetti (Italy) +0:05
- Marie Schreiber (Luxembourg) +0:13
- Julia Kopecky (Czech Republic) +0:14
- Noemi Rüegg (Switzerland) +0:22
- Fem van Empel (Netherlands) +0:22
- Eleonora Gasparrini (Italy) +0:24
- Dominika Wlodarczyk (Poland) +0:25
Junior road race | Saturday, 23 September | Drijber - VAM-Berg | 111 kilometres
The small village of Drijber on the VAM mountain has around 100 inhabitants. But it is big enough to be the starting point for the junior road race at the 2023 European Championships. Drijber is located on the 13.7-kilometre circuit around the mountain. The male U19s will ride eight of them before it is clear who will win the gold medal.
Results road race juniors
- Anze Ravbar (Slovenia) 2:38:50
- Matys Grisel (France) +0:01
- Zak Erzen (Slovenia) +0:01
- Patrick Frydkjaer (Denmark) +0:01
- Thom van der Werff (Netherlands) +0:01
- Juan David Sierra (Italy) +0:01
- Andrea Montagner (Italy) +0:01
- Jarno Widar (Belgium) +0:01
- Flix Orn-Kristoff (Norway) +0:01
- Oliver Mätik (Estonia) +0:04
Elite women's road race | Saturday, 23 September | Meppel - VAM-Berg | 131.3 kilometres
The elite women start their road race for European Championship gold to the west of the finish hill in Meppel. Their 62-kilometre route first leads north, then east towards Beilen. From there, the route heads south again before reaching the finishing circuit via Wijster. The women will ride five times, totalling 131.3 kilometres of racing.
Results road race elite women
- Mischa Bredewold (Netherlands) 3:04:12
- Lorena Wiebes (Netherlands) +0:03
- Lotte Kopecky (Belgium) +0:03
- Pfeiffer Georgi (Great Britain) +0:07
- Silvia Persico (Italy) +0:07
- Elise Chabbey (Switzerland) +0:07
- Liane Lippert (Germany) +0:07
- Anna Henderson (Great Britain) +0:07
- Juliette Labous (France) +0:10
- Demi Vollering (Netherlands) +0:12
Junior road race | Sunday, 24 September | Drijber - VAM-Berg | 69 kilometres
Similar to the juniors, the junior women do not leave the VAM-Berg circuit for their Sunday morning race after the start in Drijber. And just like the elite women, they ride the circuit five times. Without travelling from one of the neighbouring municipalities, that makes 69 kilometres to victory.
Results road race juniors
- Fleur Moors (Belgium) 1:59:55
- Federica Venturelli (Italy) +0:03
- Leane Tabu (France) +0:07
- Titia Ryo (France) +0:07
- Elyne Roussel (France) +0:07
- Viktoria Chladonova (Slovakia) +0:07
- Lauren Molengraaf (Netherlands) +0:07
- Hannah Kunz (Germany) +0:07
- Lore De Schepper (Belgium) +0:10
- Eleonora la Bella (Italy) +0:12
Elite men's road race | Sunday, 24 September | Assen - VAM-Berg | 199.8 kilometres
The organisers obviously didn't want the two to be at the front, even though the zig-zag course through Drenthe certainly looks as if a few more kilometres need to be collected: the final competition of the 2023 European Championships, the men's road race, is 199.8 kilometres long.
The competition begins in the centre of Assen, a city of 70,000 inhabitants and the seat of the province of Drenthe. After a wide arc northwards around the city, the route heads south, past Gieten, Borger and Westerbork. If the weather is good, the finish should be recognisable relatively early. The circuit is reached after 115 kilometres. It has to be ridden six times before it is clear who is the European men's elite champion.
Results men's road race
- Christophe Laporte (France) 4:15:50
- Wout van Aert (Belgium) +0:00
- Olav Kooij (Netherlands) +0:00
- Arnaud De Lie (Belgium) +0:00
- Mike Teunissen (Netherlands) +0:08
- Rasmus Tiller (Norway) +0:08
- Mads Pedersen (Denmark) +0:13
- John Degenkolb (Germany) +0:14
- Andreas Kron (Denmark) +0:39
- Florian Senechal (France) +0:40
European Cycling Championships 2023 - TV broadcast and live stream
All elite races in Germany will be broadcast live on TV and via live stream. Eurosport 1 broadcasts on linear television, while GCN+, Discovery+ and Eurosport broadcast via internet stream. The respective transmission times are identical.
- Elite women's individual time trial: 20 September, 14:30 - 16:15
- Elite men's individual time trial: 20 September, 16:15 - 18:00
- Elite mixed relay: 21 September, 15:30 - 17:30
- Elite women's road race: 23 September, 13:30 - 17:00
- Elite men's road race: 24 September, 12:30 - 17:15
