Belgium is hosting the European road cycling championships for the first time in its history from 11 to 15 September. The 14 events will take place in Limburg, with Heusden-Zolder and Hasselt serving as host cities.
Until 2015, the UEC Road Cycling Championships were limited to youth categories (Juniors and Under-23s). The 2016 championship, held in Plumelec, France, was the first edition combining Elites, Under-23s and Juniors.
This year's edition marks the first time Belgium is hosting a major international cycling championship since the 2021 World Championships held in Bruges and Leuven.
All races will start from Heusden-Zolder and finish in Hasselt. The schedule is packed, with six individual time trials planned for Wednesday. The girls’ junior race will start at 9 a.m., followed by the Boys’ Junior event (10:15 a.m.), Women’s Under-23s (11:45 a.m.), Men’s Under-23s (1:15 p.m.), Elite Women (3 p.m.), and Elite Men (4:30 p.m.).
The mixed relay time trials follow on Thursday, with the Juniors racing at 11:30 a.m. and the Elites at 2:20pm.
Road races begin on Friday - the Women’s Under-23s at 9 a.m. and the Men’s Under-23s at 1:30 p.m.
On Saturday, the Boys’ Junior race (9 a.m.) will precede the Elite Women’s event (1:30 p.m.) while, on Sunday, the Girls’ Junior race (9 a.m.) will be followed by the Elite Men’s event (12:30 p.m).
Belgium has excelled at time trials ever since the championships' expansion to include professionals, with gold medals coming from Victor Campenaerts (2017 and 2018) and Remco Evenepoel (2019). Campenaerts also secured a silver (2016) and a bronze medal (2020), while Evenepoel (2021) and Wout van Aert (2023) also claimed bronze.
In the road race, Belgium has amassed three silver medals (Yves Lampaert in 2019, Evenepoel in 2021, and Van Aert in 2023) and two bronzes (Van Aert in 2018 and Tim Merlier in 2022).
Among the women, Ann-Sophie Duyck took silver in the time trial in 2017, and Lotte Kopecky snapped up the road-race bronze last year.
