Ellen van Dijk sweeps to women's time trial hat-trick in Dutch one-two

Van Dijk delighted the crowd as she powered her way to a third successive European title on Wednesday.

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Ellen van Dijk (NED) splashed her way to a third successive women's time trial European title as she led a Dutch one-two on Glasgow's rain-lashed roads on Wednesday. 

Van Dijk was just two seconds ahead of her countrywoman Anna van der Breggen (NED), with Germany's Trixi Worrack winning the bronze medal. The riders had to battle treacherous conditions as rain started lashing down before the start of the 32.3km race against the clock, making tackling the technical parts of the course even more difficult.

Van Dijk was last off the ramp at the Riverside Museum but caught three of her main rivals who had started at one-minute intervals ahead of her. Germany's Lisa Brennauer, who had already won gold and two bronze medals across Road and Track Cycling at the Glasgow 2018 European Championships, was the last of van Dijk's three rivals to be caught just before the finish line at Glasgow Green.

But the eventual winner needed the last finishing sprint to see off van der Breggen, who was sitting on the golden seat seeing the seconds click away. Van Dijk, who has never been beaten in the time trial since elite women were added to the schedule in 2016, clocked 41 minutes 39 seconds. Van Dijk said,

“It's really special to win three European Championship titles in a row.”

"It's an incredible thing if I think about it. I am super happy with that."

Olympic road race Champion van der Breggen, who took silver in 2016 and bronze last year, finished in 41:41, with Worrack stopping the clock at 42:48. The German was 10th of the 34 starters and faced wetter conditions than riders who had set off later when the rain was beginning to ease on parts of the course.