Impressive Jarno Widar bounces back from World Championship disappointment with European title in France

The U23 men faced a tough course in France: 121 kilometers, but with 2,500 meters of climbing around Guilherand-Granges. There were plenty of top riders at the start, including the new world champion Lorenzo Finn, as well as men such as top favorite Jarno Widar from Belgium and Senna Remijn from the Netherlands.

The climb to Saint-Romain-de-Lerps is the longest on the course, and it had to be conquered three times. The first passage was already 17 kilometers in, but it did not cause any significant changes: the peloton was still together. But after a second long lap, which also included the grueling Val d'Enfer, there were just under 50 riders left, including four Dutchmen.

Remijn was there, but so were David Haverdings, Jurgen Zomermaand, and Ruud Junior Nagengast. So the orange legion was well represented in the leading group, but the expectation was that it would break apart in the next lap. The junior race on Saturday was already spectacular, with Germany's Karl Herzog taking the victory. On the last long climb, Widar decided to make the first moves.

He didn't get away, but it did cause a significant shake-up. Widar still had his teammate, Mathisse Van Kerckhove, with him, but Finn and the Frenchman, Decomble, were also there. For the Netherlands, only Zomermaand was still in contention. Before entering the final lap, the shortest at 17 kilometers, Decomble broke away, but it was Ireland's Liam O'Brien who entered the final lap with a lead.

The difference was only a few seconds, but the pursuers were unable to coordinate their efforts. Suddenly, the gap was three-quarters of a minute: would they be too late? Widar knew it was now or never. On the Val d'Enfer, he broke away from the chasing group and impressively caught up with O'Brien, who immediately had to let the Belgian go.

Widar reached the top of the final climb with a ten-second lead. Meanwhile, it was no longer O'Brien but Decomble who was his closest chaser. The Frenchman, who finished third in the World Time Trial Championships last week, proved to be a formidable opponent. A nervous Widar had to give everything he had on the nasty climb of the d'Enfer to maintain his lead.

However, Widar held his ground and then extended his lead on the descent. Even in the final flat kilometers, Decomble was unable to turn the tide. Widar thus won the European title after a fine solo effort, making up for his poor performance at the World Championships. The Spaniard Alvarez took bronze behind Decomble. Remijn (seventh) and Zomermaand (10th) finished in the top ten after a strong race on behalf of the Netherlands.