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Peter Sagan wins the first European Road Race Championships

Already the UCI world road race champion, Peter Sagan added another title to his palmares by winning the inaugural elite European road race championships in Plumelec, France.

Racing in the national colours of Slovakia, Peter finished the race with a perfectly timed sprint after a tough day in the saddle culminating with the climb of Cadoudal to the line.

After the race, a clearly delighted Peter was keen to thank his countrymen for their hard work during the race. “I’m extremely happy to be the first ever European Road Champion and it’s an honour for me to take the Slovak colors to the highest spot of the podium. As expected, it was a long and tough race, but in the final lap my legs were strong and I thought I had what it took to jump at the opportunity when it arose.

“I waited until I felt the timing was right to attack and take my chance, although it wouldn’t have been possible without the dedicated work of all my Slovak team-mates. I dedicate this victory to them as well as the entire country of Slovakia and I congratulate all riders of Tinkoff for their effort in this European Championship.”

Peter lined up at the race alongside Tinkoff Teammates Michael Kolar, brother Juraj Sagan, Sergio Paulinho and Michael Gogl, each racing for the respective nations. After an early break of four riders pulled clear the race settled into its rhythm on the circuit around Plumelec, in Brittany, which took in the short but testing climb of the Cadoudal each lap.

With 50km to race the repetitive climbs and fast pace saw a depleted peloton come to within a minute of the last remaining attacker, and this proximity sparked the first of many moves with a strong counterattack going across including Sergio.

This didn’t survive and more and more moves went up the road before eventually being swallowed up, leaving a large number of riders still in contention with one lap to go. A strong solo move in the final lap forced yet another hard chase in the peloton but into the final kilometre everything was back together again.

As the race rounded the last corner, with the finish line in sight, Peter made his move – coming from a strong position at the front to power clear of his rivals and take the title – the first ever elite European road race title with clear space between him and the riders behind.

Julian Alaphilippe (France) was second with Daniel Moreno (Spain) third, completing the podium.

Peter will now head directly to join his teammates at the Eneco Tour which starts tomorrow in the Netherlands. With several stages that suit the World and European champion’s strengths, it could be a prosperous week for the team as the season starts to draw to a close.

European Championships 2016 – road race results:

1 Peter Sagan (Slovakia) 5:34:23
2 Julian Alaphilippe (France)
3 Daniel Moreno (Spain)
4 Samuel Dumoulin (France)
5 Peter Vacok (Czech Republic)
6 Rui Costa (Portugal)
7 Tony Gallopin (France)
8 Phlippe Gilbert (Belgium)
9 Diego Ulissi (Italy)
10 Luis Leon Sanchez (Spain)