Image 1 of 4 Georgia Bronzini, Marianne Vos and Olga Zabelinskaya (Image credit: Michael Aisner) Image 2 of 4 European champion Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) (Image credit: UAE Team Emirates) Image 3 of 4 Cyclists compete during the Men's Elite Race of the 2016 UEC Road European Championship Image 4 of 4 Peter Sagan celebrates his win at the European championship road race.

The European Cycling Union (UEC) has announced changes to the format of the European Championship race courses as of 2019, with most of the races being shortened "to make races more spectacular and exciting for the general public and press".

In addition, the Union voted at its annual meeting at Valkenburg, which coincided with the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships this week, to create the "UEC E-Bike Formula", a racing circuit for mountain bike and road E-bikes.

The major change in the championships will be that all time trials will be the same distance and on the same course, with the length reduced to 20-30km. Last year's men's elite time trial was, for example, 46km, and the other ccategories were 31.5km, with the exception of the junior women who were previously 10km.

The road races are also being shortened, with the elite men going from 241km in 2017 to 150-180km in 2019.

For the E-bike circuit, "initial contacts will soon be made with leading technicians and manufacturers in the assisted mobility market in order to examine the regulatory aspects,” the UEC said in its press release.

Acting President Rocco Cattaneo praised the innovations, saying, “We are aware that cycling is undergoing a period of radical change and our main objective must be to reach as many fans, athletes and others that we can, also thanks to the great support of television."

The reform of road cycling approved yesterday will revitalise our sport. Without affecting the appeal of the tradition of European cycling, we will make it more accessible to even more people which will be beneficial to all National Federations.

This year’s European Championships are scheduled for July 12-15 (junior/under-23) in the Czech Republic and August 5-12 for the elite categories in Glasgow.