280 athletes (95 women and 185 men) took part, 23 competitions had to be decided.
These European championships were characterized by several innovations: After two-man team driving (in various forms) had been a purely male domain since the end of the 19th century, since 1995 it has continued to be held only for men in the current version at the UCI track world championships . At the national level there are only a few countries with a championship for women in this discipline. In 2016, the two-man team competition for women was included in the program of the European Championships for the first time, and thus for the first time in an international competition.
The Omnium, which previously consisted of six disciplines, will in future only consist of four disciplines. All time trial disciplines - single pursuit , 1000 meter time trial , flying lap - have been canceled. The speed races were added as a fourth discipline instead of scratch , elimination and points race . For the men the scratch race and the speed laps are ten kilometers, for the women over 7.5 kilometers; the final points race is 25 kilometers for men and women.
As part of these European championships, the stand-up European championships were held at the beginning . This integration of standing races in the European Track Championships was also a novelty.
Some national teams started at these European championships with athletes from the "second row" or from the youngsters, as many drivers who started at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro until the start of the World Cup season on November 4th take a break at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow . For many young athletes, these European Championships therefore offered the opportunity to distinguish themselves with regard to the 2020 Olympic Games .
The most successful teams at this European Championship were the French and the Russian, each with three gold medals. With the French Corentin Ermenault , son of Olympic champion Philippe Ermenault , won two titles alone, in the single and in the team pursuit . The three Russian gold medals were in the short-term category: while Darja Schmeljowa secured two titles in the 500-meter time trial and in the team sprint, her compatriot Pawel Jakuschewski became European sprint champion . Thanks to two gold medals from Loïc Perizzolo in the qualifying round and that from Gaël Suter, the Swiss team finished fifth in the medal ranking. The German team, who had traveled with many young professionals, was ranked in the final in ninth place, including a gold for the stayer Stefan Schaefer .
The most successful athlete in these European championships was the Dutch woman Kirsten Wild , who won a total of five medals, including two golds in the elimination race and in the points race, and was thus harmed for her disappointing second place in the road race of the UCI Road World Championships 2016 . Elisa Balsamo , who won the junior women's road race at the World Championships, decided the team pursuit for Italy together with her teammates Tatiana Guderzo , Simona Frapporti and Silvia Valsecchi . The Briton Katie Archibald was European champion in the single pursuit for the third time in a row, won the Omnium and finished second in the elimination race. The Spaniard Albert Torres was European champion in the Omnium and, as in the previous year, together with Sebastián Mora in the two-man team . The Belgians Jolien D'hoore and Lotte Kopecky became the first European champions in two-man team cycling in the history of cycling.
After just a few minutes of the one-hour final, a preliminary decision was made: the Dutch team Patrick Kos / Jan Willem Fack attacked the German team Thomas Steger / Thomas Ruder, which cost Kos, the European champions of 2011, so much strength that he lost his role and gave up the race. At the end of the first half of the race, Stefan Schäfer and Peter Bäuerlein gained a lap advantage over Atzeni / Aebi, which the Swiss could not catch up. The second German team, Franz Schiewer and Gerhard Gessler, stayed in one group with Schäfer / Bäuerlein. This status could be held until the end. Of the eight teams that started, only five crossed the finish line.
GER
SUI
FRA
Russia
United Kingdom
Netherlands
Spain
Lithuania
Belgium
Poland
Italy
Ukraine
Czech Republic
Denmark
Greece
Ireland
Belarus
