Victor Campenaerts retains men's time trial title by tightest margin

The Belgian favourite took gold on the roads of Scotland.

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Belgian cyclist Victor Campenaerts clung onto his European men's time trial title by the narrowest of margins after a thrilling finish on Glasgow Green on Wednesday.

Campenaerts won by just 0.63 seconds to deny Spain's Jonathan Castroviejo after a strength-sapping 45.7km test on the rain-sodden roads of Scotland.

Grimacing with the effort down the home straight, the Lotto Soudal pro rider's finishing sprint just paid off after clocking 53 minutes 38.78 seconds.

Germany's Max Schachmann won the bronze medal finishing just over 27.38 seconds slower than the Belgian.

Casttroviejo helped Britain's Geraint Thomas and Chris Froome finish first and third respectively in last month's Tour de France in his role as a support rider with Team Sky and looked to be getting his reward in Glasgow.

Having set the fastest time by almost 27 seconds, Castrviejo must have been dreaming of the gold medal as he sat in the hot seat, only for last man Campenaerts to deny him in such cruelly close fashion.

The duo had hardly been separated on the time checks out on the course, which took the riders from Glasgow's Riverside Museum into East Dunbartonshire and Stirling before dropping back into the city.

The race against the clock had started in the sunshine before the rain, which had lashed down on the women's race earlier, returned to make the finish even more tricky for the later riders.

But Campenaerts, who won silver in the inaugural European Championships time trial event in 2016, proved strong and retained his crown.