The favourite has struck: Lorena Wiebes clearly outpaces her rivals in the bunch sprint at the 2024 European Cycling Championships. The Dutchwoman was isolated from her compatriots early on in the preparation for the bunch sprint because the Italians pushed the pace for Elisa Balsamo. Wiebes attached herself to Balsamo's rear wheel and launched her attack relatively early on. She easily overtook the competition around the Italians, opened up a small gap to the rest of the field and won clearly and convincingly in the end.

Wiebes wins - Koch 13.

After Mischa Bredewold won the 2023 European Championships last year with a 10-kilometre solo and Lorena Wiebes finished in second place, Wiebes can now stand at the top and cheer. So last year there were two Dutchwomen and Lotte Kopecky, a Belgian, on the podium, but this year the podium is slightly different. Second place goes to Elisa Balsamo from Italy, with Daria Pikulik from Poland in third. The best German is Franziska Koch in 13th place.

>> More information on the European Cycling Championships 2024

The women's road race at the 2024 European Cycling Championships - results: the top 10

How the women's road race went at the 2024 European Cycling Championships

There were numerous breakaway attempts on the 162-kilometre course through the Belgian province of Limburg. Among others, last year's winner Mischa Bredewold, but also Valerie Demey (Belgium) and the German riders around Romy Kasper and Liane Lippert tried their luck in the breakaway. But no rider really managed to escape the fast and always attentive peloton - no rider ever had a lead of more than a minute on the peloton. When the Spaniard Sara Martin became the last breakaway rider with around 12 kilometres to go, it was clear that the race would be decided in a bunch sprint. And so it was: thanks to an irresistible attack, Lorena Wiebes came out ahead of the competition and can now wear the European Championship jersey for a year.