UEC European Track Championships

This article is about the elite level championships inaugurated in 2010. It is not to be confused with UEC European Track Championships (under-23 & junior).

The European Track Cycling Championships are a set of elite level competition events held annually for the various disciplines and distances in track cycling, exclusively for European cyclists, and regulated by the European Cycling Union (UEC). They were first held in their current format in 2010, when elite level cyclists competed for the first time following an overhaul of European track cycling.

European Champion Jersey

European Champion jersey

European Champion jersey until 2015

Background

The UEC agreed with the governing bodies of six other major European sports from 2018 to integrate its four Olympic-class events, including track cycling, into the new European Championships event on a quadrennial basis. Beginning with 2018, every fourth edition of the competition will form part of the multi-sport event.

While track cycling also forms part of the 2019 European Games in Minsk, these events are not regarded as European Championships but as the Cycling programme of the European Games, and the UEC event will also be held later in the same year. Conversely, the events held in Glasgow in 2018, and Munich in 2022 as part of the multi-sport European Championships are treated as official UEA championships

Format

In line with cycling tradition, winners of an event at the championships are presented with, in addition to the gold medal, a special, identifiable jersey. This UEC European Champion jersey is a white and blue jersey with gold stars. Gold stars on a blue background have been an identifiably European symbol since the adoption of the Flag of Europe by the Council of Europe.

The most successful nation since the inauguration of the elite event is Great Britain, the event's genesis coinciding with Britain's rise to dominance in world track cycling. The most successful individual rider in the history of the Elite event is Katie Archibald of Great Britain, who has won, as of the 2023 UEC European Track Championships, 20 European titles. Among nations in the championships, aside from Great Britain itself, only Russia, Germany, Netherlands and France have won more gold medals than Archibald.

Pre-History

The first European Track Championships were held in Berlin in 1886 and featured only 5 km and 10 km men's scratch races.^[1]

Age group championships

Prior to 2010, championship events were run under the same name, but solely for junior and under-23 cyclists, and the 2010 event is recognised as the first elite level senior championships. Since 2010, separate annual European championships for under-23 and junior riders have continued, described explicitly as such.

European Track Cycling Championships have been held for junior and under-23 athletes for a long time, though records in earlier editions are incomplete. They provided useful experience for young riders with winners automatically qualifying to compete at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships in which no age limit applied, and the world's best track cyclists competed.^[2]

A European Masters Track Championships also exists for riders over 35 years old.

Derny, Madison and Omnium championships

Men's European Track Championships for the "motor-paced" or "derny" track cycling discipline have been held since 1896. A separate European Madison championship event was also run for men.

Separate elite European Omnium Championships have been held since 1959, which were later incorporated into the senior European Track Championships on their introduction in 2010.^[3][4]

Founding of the modern Elite Championships

In 2010 the UEC instigated a significant overhaul of how cyclists qualify for the Olympic Games. As a result, the European Championships was also introduced for elite level European cyclists. The first elite championships thereafter took place at the beginning of November 2010. It followed the same ten event schedule for the 2012 Olympics but also included the Madison "due to popular demand".^[5]

The Under 23 and Junior championships thereafter were run as an annual separate event.

Elite Competitions (2010-present)

Editions

Number	Year	Date	Country	City	Velodrome	Events
1	2010	5–7 November	Poland	Pruszków	BGŻ Arena	11
2	2011	21–23 October	Netherlands	Apeldoorn	Omnisport Apeldoorn	13
3	2012	19–21 October	Lithuania	Panevėžys	Cido Arena^[6]	13
4	2013	18–20 October	Netherlands	Apeldoorn	Omnisport Apeldoorn^[7]	13
5	2014	16–19 October	France	Baie-Mahault, Guadeloupe	Vélodrome Amédée Détraux	19
6	2015	14–18 October	Switzerland	Grenchen	Velodrome Suisse	21
7	2016	19–23 October	France	Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines	Vélodrome de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines	22
8	2017	18–22 October	Germany	Berlin	Velodrom	23
9	2018^[a]	2–7 August	Great Britain	Glasgow	Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome	22
10	2019	16–20 October	Netherlands	Apeldoorn	Omnisport Apeldoorn	22
11	2020	11–15 November	Bulgaria	Plovdiv	Kolodruma	22
12	2021	5–9 October	Switzerland	Grenchen	Tissot Velodrome	22
13	2022^[b]	11–16 August	Germany	Munich	Neue Messe München	22
14	2023	8–12 February	Switzerland	Grenchen	Tissot Velodrome	22

Venues

2010   2011, 2013, 2019, 2024   2012   2016   2015, 2021, 2023   2017   2022   2018   2020

2014

All-time medal table (2010–2023)

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Great Britain	49	29	26	104
2	Germany	42	40	32	114
3	Netherlands	33	22	31	86
4	Russia	31	30	32	93
5	France	29	33	32	94
6	Italy	22	26	21	69
7	Spain	9	7	7	23
8	Poland	8	15	21	44
9	Belgium	8	14	8	30
10	Denmark	8	9	4	21
11	Lithuania	6	3	8	17
12	Portugal	5	8	5	18
13	Czech Republic	5	2	6	13
14	Ukraine	4	9	14	27
15	Switzerland	3	7	5	15
16	Belarus	2	7	6	15
17	Norway	2	0	0	2
18	Austria	1	0	1	2
19	Greece	0	3	3	6
20	Ireland	0	2	4	6
21	Hungary	0	1	0	1
22	Romania	0	0	1	1
Totals (22 entries)		267	267	267	801

Most successful riders

Below is a table of the most successful male and female riders at the European Track Cycling Championships from 2010 onwards. The most successful rider of either sex is Katie Archibald, with 20 European titles and 26 medals; in the history of the Championships, only Germany, Netherlands, France, Italy and Russia, in addition to her own nation, have won more gold medals than Archibald. The most successful male athlete is Dutch sprinter Jeffrey Hoogland on 14 gold medals and 18 medals total, the same numbers as Archibald's Madison and team pursuit partner Laura Kenny. Kenny was the first rider to reach ten championship jerseys, a feat only equalled by Archibald, their fellow Brit Elinor Barker, Hoogland, and Russian sprint pair Anastasia Voynova and Daria Shmeleva.

up to date after 2023 UEC European Track Championships.

Male

No	Athlete	Nation				Total	Years	Events
1	Jeffrey Hoogland	Netherlands	14	2	2	18	2015-2023	Team sprint, sprint, Kilo and keirin
2	Harrie Lavreysen	Netherlands	9	1	2	12	2017-2023	Team sprint, sprint and keirin
3	Ben Thomas	France	9	2	4	15	2014-2023	Team pursuit, Points race, Scratch race and omnium
4	Elia Viviani	Italy	8	1	3	12	2012-2022	Team pursuit, Points Race, Eliminator, omnium and Madison
5	Maximilian Levy	Germany	6	2	1	9	2010-2020	Team sprint, sprint and keirin
	Sebastián Mora	Spain	6	0	1	7	2015-2022	Scratch race, Points race, Madison and omnium.
	Andy Tennant	Great Britain	6	0	0	6	2010-2016	Team pursuit, individual pursuit.

Female

No	Athlete	Nation				Total	Years	Events
1	Katie Archibald	Great Britain	20	5	1	26	2013-2023	Team pursuit, individual pursuit, Scratch race, points race, Eliminator, omnium and Madison.
2	Laura Kenny	Great Britain	14	3	1	18	2010-2020	Team pursuit, Scratch race, Eliminator, omnium and Madison.
3	Anastasia Voynova	Russia	13	6	2	21	2012-2021	Team sprint, sprint and 500 m time trial
4	Daria Shmeleva	Russia	12	3	6	21	2012-2021	Team sprint, sprint, keirin and 500 m time trial
5	Elinor Barker	Great Britain	10	2	1	13	2013-2023	Team pursuit, Eliminator, Madison and Scratch race.

Golden 'hat-tricks'.

No rider has won four gold medals at a single championships. The following riders have won a 'hat-trick' of three gold medals at a single championships on at least one occasion, the first being the Russian sprinter Anastasia Voynova in 2014: Katie Archibald of Great Britain has achieved the feat on three occasions, a record, with three different combinations of events, and is the only rider to achieve a 'hat-trick' without winning gold in either the team pursuit or team sprint. The most hat-tricks claimed in one championships was in the 2023 championships when Archibald and sprinters Harrie Lavreysen of the Netherlands, and Lea Friedrich of Germany won three golds apiece. Uniquely, all three won their respective 'Olympic' trebles by winning all three available golds in their Olympic events - Team pursuit, Omnium and Madison for Archibald, Team sprint, sprint and keirin for Lavreysen and Friedrich, a feat achieved by no rider prior to 2023.

Riders are listed in order of their first 'hat-trick':

Rider	Nation	Hat-tricks	Years	Events
Anastasia Voynova	Russia	2	2014	Sprint, Team sprint, 500m TT
			2019	Sprint, Team sprint, 500m TT
Jeffrey Hoogland	Netherlands	2	2015	Sprint, Team sprint, Kilo
			2021	Team sprint, Keirin, Kilo
Katie Archibald	Great Britain	3	2016	Team pursuit, Pursuit, Elimination race
			2021	Omnium, Madison, Scratch race
			2023	Team pursuit, Omnium, Madison
Laura Kenny	Great Britain	1	2016	Team pursuit, Omnium, Scratch race
Daria Shmeleva	Russia	1	2018	Sprint, Team sprint, 500m TT
Emma Hinze	Germany	1	2022	Sprint, Team sprint, 500m TT
Harrie Lavreysen	Netherlands	1	2023	Sprint, Team sprint, Keirin
Lea Friedrich	Germany	1	2023	Sprint, Team sprint, Keirin

Most successful in each event

22 Events are held as part of the European championships. The table below summarises the most successful athlete and nation in each of the 22 separate events. The numbers in parenthesis represent the number of golds, silvers and bronze respectively won by the athlete or nation in that specific event. Athletes and nations are differentiated in the standard way, first by number of golds, then silvers, then bronze medals. Although both the Omnium and Madison had stand alone championships prior to 2010, only those contested at the European Track Cycling Championships from that year forward are included.

The most dominant rider in a single event is Laura Kenny who has won the women's team pursuit on eight occasions. This is also the event where a single nation is most dominant; Great Britain have won nine of the editions of the team pursuit, and medalled on a further two occasions. Kenny is also the most dominant rider in any event for individual riders, with four gold and two silver medals across various editions of the omnium. The records for medals in a single event is the 13 medals won by Russia in the 500 metre time trial.

Katie Archibald holds the unique distinction of having been a European Champion across seven different events; team pursuit (7), individual pursuit (4), Scratch race (1), points race (1), Eliminator (1), omnium (4) and madison(2).

up to date after 2023 UEC European Track Championships.

Best Male Athlete	Best Nation (male)	Event	Best Female Athlete	Best Nation (female)
Jeffrey Hoogland (NED) (6/0/1)	Netherlands (6/0/1)	Team Sprint	Anastasiia Voinova (RUS) (7/0/1)   Daria Shmeleva (RUS)	Russia (8/0/1)
Jeffrey Hoogland (NED) (3/2/0)	Netherlands (5/4/1)	Sprint	Anastasiia Voinova (RUS) (3/4/0)	Russia (4/4/2)
Maximillian Levy (GER) (3/0/0)	Germany (6/2/1)	Keirin	Lea Friedrich (GER) (3/1/0)	Germany (5/2/1)
Jeffrey Hoogland (NED) (4/0/0)	Netherlands (5/2/1)	Kilo/500m	Daria Shmeleva (RUS) (4/1/2)	Russia (7/2/4)
Andy Tennant (GBR) (5/0/0)	Great Britain (5/2/5)	Team pursuit	Laura Kenny (GBR) (8/0/0)	Great Britain (9/1/1)
Jonathan Milan (ITA) (2/1/0)	Italy (3/3/1)	Individual pursuit	Katie Archibald (GBR) (4/1/1)	Germany (5/3/2)
Benjamin Thomas (FRA) (3/1/0)	France (4/2/1)	Points Race	Kirsten Wild (NED) (2/0/0)	Italy (2/2/1)   Russia
Sebastian Mora (ESP) (2/0/0)	Portugal (3/0/0)	Scratch race	Kirsten Wild (NED) (1/1/1)	Great Britain (3/3/0)
Elia Viviani (ITA) (2/1/1)	Great Britain (3/1/3)	Omnium	Laura Kenny (GBR) (4/2/0)	Great Britain (8/3/0)
Albert Torres (ESP) (3/1/0)	Spain (3/1/0)	Madison	Amalie Dideriksen (DEN) (2/1/1)   Julie Leth (DEN)	Great Britain (3/1/2)
Elia Viviani (ITA) (2/0/0)   Matthew Walls (GBR)	Italy (2/1/0)	Elimination	Kirsten Wild (NED) (3/0/0)	Great Britain (3/3/1)

Juniors and U23's and Open Omnium

Main article: UEC European Track Championships (under-23 & junior)

Exclude Men's Open Madison events from 2001 to 2009 and include Open Omnium events from 2001 to 2009.

Number	Year	Country	City	Events
as European Track Championships
1	2001	Czech Republic   Italy	Brno (Under 23) Fiorenzuola d'Arda (Junior)	25
2	2002	Germany	Buttgen	27
3	2003	Russia	Moscow	32
4	2004	Spain	Valencia	32
5	2005	Italy	Fiorenzuola d'Arda	32
6	2006	Greece	Athens	32
7	2007	Germany	Cottbus	33
8	2008	Poland	Pruszków	37
9	2009	Belarus	Minsk	37
as UEC European Track Championships (under-23 & junior)
10	2010	Russia	Saint Petersburg	38
11	2011	Portugal	Anadia	38
12	2012	Portugal	Anadia	38
13	2013	Portugal	Anadia	38
14	2014	Portugal	Anadia	38
15	2015	Greece	Athens	38
16	2016	Italy	Montichiari	38
17	2017	Portugal	Sangalhos	44
18	2018	Switzerland	Aigle	44
19	2019	Belgium	Ghent	44
20	2020	Italy	Fiorenzuola d'Arda	44
21	2021	Netherlands	Apeldoorn	44
22	2022	Portugal	Anadia	44

All-time medal table (2001-2020)

Exclude Men's Open Madison events from 2001 to 2009 and include Open Omnium events from 2001 to 2009.

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Russia	146	127	118	391
2	Italy	90	53	61	204
3	Germany	86	83	74	243
4	France	84	97	79	260
5	Great Britain	83	72	68	223
6	Netherlands	46	49	58	153
7	Poland	39	65	68	172
8	Ukraine	37	23	16	76
9	Belgium	30	33	31	94
10	Czech Republic	24	27	39	90
11	Switzerland	16	21	21	58
12	Denmark	10	12	8	30
13	Spain	8	12	25	45
14	Belarus	8	9	18	35
15	Lithuania	6	15	17	38
16	Greece	4	6	8	18
17	Portugal	3	12	6	21
18	Ireland	2	9	6	17
19	Latvia	2	1	2	5
20	Armenia	2	0	0	2
21	Moldova	1	2	1	4
22	Slovakia	1	1	0	2
23	Slovenia	1	0	0	1
	Turkey	1	0	0	1
25	Austria	0	1	2	3
Totals (25 entries)		730	730	726	2186

• 2008,2014,2015 have share medals.

Disciplines

• UEC European Track Championships (under-23 & junior)
• UEC European Track Championships – Men's omnium
• UEC European Track Championships – Men's madison
• UEC European Track Championships – Men's sprint
• UEC European Track Championships – Men's team sprint
• UEC European Track Championships – Derny
• UEC European Track Championships – Stayer
• UEC European Track Championships – Women's omnium
• UEC European Track Championships – Women's madison
• UEC European Track Championships – Women's sprint
• UEC European Track Championships – Women's team pursuit

Notes

1. Part of the 2018 European Championships
2. Part of the 2022 European Championships

References

1. Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill (2011). Historical Dictionary of Cycling. Scarecrow Press. p. 74. ISBN 978-0-8108-7175-5.
2. "UK European Track Championships team". Cycling News. 11 July 2001. Retrieved 11 September 2008.
3. "European Championship, Track, Omnium, Elite". www.cyclingarchives.com.
4. "European Championship, Track, Omnium, Elite (F)". www.cyclingarchives.com.
5. "European Track Championships". Track Cycling News. Retrieved 15 August 2013.
6. "2012 m. Europos dviračių treko čempionatas vyks Panevėžyje". delfi.lt.
7. . uec-federation.eu. Archived from the original on 29 December 2012.

External links

• Official website of the 2010 European Track Cycling Championships