"300 meters from the finish my chain came off" - Tim Merlier's European Championship win made even more impressive by late mechanical

Tim Merlier is the new men's elite European road race champion! After a thrilling sprint finale, the Belgian took the win on home soil ahead of the Netherlands' Olav Kooij and Estonia's Madis Mihkels.

“Unbelievable!” A delighted Merlier exclaimed in his post-race interview, moments after one of the biggest wins of what is already an illustrious career for the 31-year-old Belgian. “In the first two hours, things really didn’t go well for me, but after that I started to believe again. The longer the race lasted, the more I started to believe in the victory.”

Although a bunch sprint finale was anticipated beforehand, the race by no means got there in the traditional route. Rider after rider tried to attack over the course of the day, but move after move was dragged back by the peloton. Despite even notable names such as Mathieu van der Poel, Mads Pedersen and Christophe Laporte going up the road, the longer the race went on, the more likely the sprint finale seemed and in turn, the more Merlier's hopes were boosted.

Once the sprint actually arrived however, Merlier had some very tough competition to deal with, including from his own compatriot Jasper Philipsen. As it turned out though, the biggest obstacle to Merlier's victory, actually turned out to be a mechanical one. “At about 300 meters from the finish my chain came off," he reveals. Then I thought: it's over. But the chain jumped back on and I found another gap. I was able to get out at the right moment."

"After two Belgian titles this means a lot to me," concludes the newly crowned European champion. "This was my big goal this year, I worked hard for this and fell hard twice in the past period. But I kept believing and now I'm here!”