Nizzolo, Colbrelli, Jakobsen, Laporte and Merlier: The last five men’s European champions
The elite men's road race at the European Championships is still a relatively young fixture on the calendar, first introduced in 2016, and its place in the sport is not yet as firmly etched in memory as the World Championships. In the build-up to the battle in the Drôme-Ardèche we look back at the last five editions.
2020 – Giacomo Nizzolo (Plouay, France)
The pandemic-delayed 2020 championships were held on a rolling circuit around Plouay. A four-man break featuring Pawel Bernas, Andreas Miltiadis, Dušan Rajović and Emil Dima was closely monitored by Italy, the Netherlands and France. After Mathieu van der Poel and Greg Van Avermaet repeatedly attacked in the last 30 km, Norway’s Markus Hoelgaard briefly forged clear before the Italians upped the tempo on the final ascent of the Côte du Pont-Neuf.
Tom Pidcock launched a last-ditch move, but Matteo Trentin closed it down. On the finishing straight Davide Ballerini delivered a perfect lead-out and Giacomo Nizzolo, freshly crowned Italian champion, surged past Arnaud Démare and Pascal Ackermann to win in a photo-finish.
The victory extended Italy’s dominance of the event after Trentin and Elia Viviani’s wins in 2018 and 2019.
2021 – Sonny Colbrelli (Trento, Italy)
Trento’s Alpine backdrop provided the stage for a race of attrition. Early on, a quartet of Antonio Jesús Soto Guirao, Aurélien Paret-Peintre, Franck Bonnamour and Harm Vanhoucke never gained more than ninety seconds. On the Vigo Cavedine climb a larger group, including Thibaut Pinot and several Spanish riders, bridged across, only to be reeled in by the Italian-led peloton.
Breakaway after breakaway was formed and caught until a royal move of Mark Padun, Tadej Pogačar, Matteo Trentin, Victor Campenaerts and Markus Hoelgaard went clear. France panicked at the sight and their furious chase reduced the peloton to a select group.
Out front nine riders remained, among them Sonny Colbrelli, Remco Evenepoel and Benoît Cosnefroy. Evenepoel struck on the penultimate ascent of the Povo climb, dropping all but Colbrelli and Cosnefroy.
With 11 kilometres to go, Cosnefroy was forced to let go, leaving Evenepoel and Colbrelli to fight for gold.In the streets of Trento, Evenepoel led onto the cobbles, but Colbrelli launched from the last corner to snatch victory, sealing a fourth consecutive European title for Italy.
2022 – Fabio Jakobsen (Munich, Germany)
Munich’s August heatwave turned the 209-kilometre road race into a battle of endurance. Early escapees Lukas Pöstlberger and Silvan Dillier were kept on a short leash by the sprinter-heavy peloton, never allowed more than two minutes. Attacks on the Ebersberg and Eurasburg climbs briefly fractured the race, but the breakaway was reeled in with two laps remaining.
The crash of Pascal Ackermann only sharpened the focus of the sprint teams: Belgium for Tim Merlier, the Netherlands for Fabio Jakobsen and France for Arnaud Démare. Stefan Bissegger launched a bold solo move with 3.5 kilometres to go, but the peloton swallowed him up as the finish loomed.
In the finale Italy delivered Démare to the front, yet the Dutch train timed it to perfection, propelling Jakobsen into prime position. He powered past to take his first major championship, with Démare and Tim Merlier rounding out the podium.
2023 – Christophe Laporte (Drenthe, Netherlands)
The 2023 European Championships took place in the Dutch province of Drenthe, racing 199.8 kilometres over narrow farm roads and the cobbled Col du VAM. A five-man break with Joshua Tarling and Stefan Bissegger animated the opening hours but was reeled in as the pace increased on the local laps.
France were aggressive, while Italy lit up the race on the penultimate circuits with Filippo Ganna and Matteo Trentin forcing a select group clear. A crash delayed Ganna and Florian Vermeersch, leaving a reduced front group that included Wout van Aert, Olav Kooij, Mike Teunissen, Arnaud De Lie and Christophe Laporte.
In the final lap Laporte slipped away once more. He carried a slender advantage onto the last ascent of the VAM, chased by De Lie leading out Van Aert with Kooij on his wheel. They came close inside the final kilometre, but Laporte clung on to take gold. Van Aert settled for silver and Kooij completed the podium.
2024 – Tim Merlier (Hasselt, Belgium)
Belgium hosted the 2024 championships on a course that combined the Heusden-Zolder motor circuit with cobbled sectors near Hasselt. Mathis Le Berre, Jonas Rutsch, Ivo Oliveira, Nils Brun and Felix Ritzinger formed the early break, but the peloton kept their advantage under three minutes.
The race was shaped by repeated accelerations from Mathieu van der Poel and Mads Pedersen, who forced several dangerous groups clear on the cobbles and short climbs. With riders like Matteo Trentin and Mike Teunissen also in the mix, the peloton was under pressure until the Italians finally closed things down 25 kilometres from the finish. From there Denmark tried again to break the rhythm, but the sprinters’ trains took over as the race sped towards Hasselt.
Italy led into the finish but Jonathan Milan faded. Despite dropping his chain with 300 metres to go, Tim Merlier launched on the outside and came past in the final metres to take the win, securing the European title on home soil ahead of Olav Kooij and Madis Mihkels.
The European Championships in the the Drôme-Ardèche run from 1-5 October:
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👉 Explore the full race schedule
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