UEC Road European Championships: Van Aert takes silver

France's Christophe Laporte won the European Road Cycling Championships in Drenthe, the Netherlands, on Sunday. After 199.8 km, Laporte left Belgian Wout van Aert and Dutchman Olav Kooij in his wake on the Col du VAM. 

Welshman Joshua Tarling and Swiss Stefan Bissegger took the lead early in the race. They were joined by Irishman Rory Townsend, Czech Mathias Vacek and Estonian Norman Vahtra. The five built up a lead of more than 2 minutes. 

Tarling and Vahtra were the first to be caught after the first climb of the Col du VAM. With Laporte and Kooij in the lead, a group of 10 riders emerged, including the two Belgian favourites, Van Aert and Arnaud De Lie. 

With 14 km to go, Laporte left his companions behind. Van Aert and Laporte took a 10-second lead into the final climb. Van Aert finished second and Kooij third. De Lie finished fourth. As in the recent Vuelta a Espana, the Jumbo-Visma team swept the podium. 

Laporte is the first French rider to win the European Championship. This was his fifth victory of the season.

^{© BELGA PHOTO DAVID PINTENS}