The start of the men’s European Championship was in Assen. After leaving there, the riders covered 115 kilometers passing through Norg, Zuidlaren, Gieten, Borger, and Westerbork towards the local circuit. Just before that, they climbed the VAM mountain from two sides: Atteropad (approximately 500 meters at 6%) and Monte Vampad (approximately 200 meters at 12%). After this first crossing of the line, there were still six local laps of 13.7 km to go. This also included a third climb, the Dak van Drenthe, a new ascent at the VAM location.
The final lap decided the race.
After various attacks in the previous laps, including a crash of one of the favorites, Filippo Ganna, a group stood out from the peloton. In this group, there was an attack by Olav Kooij and Christophe Laporte, who were joined by Teunissen, Van Aert, Arnaud De Lie, Andreas Kron, Mads Pedersen, Sandy Dujardin, Rasmus Tiller, and John Degenkolb. They started the final lap together. Laporte tried to attack again. The Frenchman managed to open a fifteen-second gap.
At the foot of the VAM mountain, Laporte still had a twelve-second lead. At the start of the final kilometer, De Lie already began leading for Van Aert. Besides Van Aert, only Kooij managed to follow. The three almost caught Laporte on the Atteropad climb. However, after the descent, the Frenchman still had an advantage. Van Aert managed to narrow the gap after jumping from De Lie’s wheel, but he couldn’t overtake his Jumbo-Visma teammate. Kooij, on the other hand, couldn’t pass Van Aert.
Watch the finish:
Results of the 2023 European Cycling Championship:
