Netherlands hopes to claim sixth women European title in a row on Saturday

The European Cyclo-Cross Championships are on the menu this weekend. WielerFlits rewinds the history of the so-successful event for Netherlands in their latest article.

The very first European Cyclo-Cross Championships for women were held in Tábor, Czech Republic, in 2003. The organization of the European Cyclo-cross Championships is not the UCI, but the European Cycling Union UEC. The U23 category for women was thus introduced ten years later.

The last women's category, that of junior women, was only added to the European Championships in 2019. Puck Pieterse won the first European Championship title in the women's junior category in Silvelle, Italy.

Back to the elite women now. The record holder is Daphny van den Brand, who took home the white jersey with stars four times. The Dutch woman holds off Sanne Cant, who was able to win three times at the European Championships. Since 2018, it's been only cyclists in orange kits winning the European title with Fem van Empel being the current champion.