The Dutch Ellen van Dijk made up for the defeat she suffered last Thursday in the time trial, in which she had to settle for the silver medal, after proclaiming herself this Saturday the new European long-distance champion on the road in the Italian city of Trento. A victory that rewarded the bravery of Van Dijk who, with sixty kilometers to go to the finish line, was already running away from the discipline of the peloton.
First in company of the Norwegian Katrine Aalerud, the German Romy Kasper and the Italian Soraya Paladin to whom little by little the Dutch was taking down until facing the last 23 kilometers of the event alone. Final stage that became a real struggle between Ellen Van Dijk and a select group of nine riders, among which were, in addition to her companions Demi Vollering and Annemie van Vleuten, the German Liane Lippert and the Swiss Marlen Reusser, the cyclist who gave her snatched the gold in the test against the clock.
An unequal fight in which Van Dijk seemed destined for defeat after seeing how with 20 kilometers to go to the conclusion his advantage was reduced to just 6 seconds, after the attacks, first from Lippert and later from Reusser. However, the Dutch woman did not allow herself to be caught, which created confusion in the group of persecutors, in which with Vollering and Van Vleuten on blotter paper, no one dared to bear the brunt of the hunt.
A circumstance that Ellen van Dijk did not miss to widen her gap again, as witnessed by the 1:18 minute lead with which the Dutch cyclist finally crossed the finish line. The German Liane Lippert, who won the silver medal, and the Lithuanian Rasa Leleivyte, bronze, completed the podium., who prevailed in a sprint in which the Dutch Vollering, poorly positioned, and Van Vleuten, weighed down by a pedal problem, had no chance of winning. The first Spanish classified was Eider Merino, who finished in nineteenth place at 2:53 minutes from the winner.