Matteo Trentin wins European Championship road race for Italy

Italy’s Matteo Trentin is the new European men’s road race champion following a tough day’s racing around the streets of Glasgow in challenging weather.

Trentin was one of a strong group of 11 riders that got away with a little under 50 kilometres remaining of the race.

Other riders in the group included former cyclo-cross world champion Mathieu van der Poel of the Netherlands and his successor in the rainbow jersey, the Belgian rider Woiut Van Aert.

The presence of the pair in the final selection was evidence of how tough today’s race was, and they would take silver and bronze respectively as Trentin went early and edged them out in a five-man sprint.

Also in that quintet were Jesus Herrada of Spain and Trentin’s team mate, Davide Cimolai,who finished fourth and fifth respectively with the rest of the break distanced following a crash around 10 kilometres from the finish.

The 230.4km race was played out over 16 laps of a 14.4km circuit in the centre of Scotland’s biggest city, with the finish line on Glasgow Green.

The twisting parcours and short, sharp climbs combined with at times driving rain made it a sapping day for many and was reminiscent of a Spring Classic, reflected in the dirt-caked faces of the riders at the finish line after around 6 hours in the saddle.

Pre-race favourite Peter Sagan, winner in 2016 – the first year the event was opened to professionals – had an unhappy day and after struggling to rejoin the main group after a puncture, abandoned with 84 kilometres remaining.

Trentin, who will wear the white and blue jersey with gold stars of European champion over the next 12 months when racing for his Mitchelton-Scott team, succeeds Alexander Kristoff of Norway to the title.