Foster, who was crowned European champion in Glasgow in 2018, won the title at the end of a fiercely fought race.

From the start, the Swiss was one of the most active riders, before launching a decisive attack close to the finish line, which he crossed three seconds ahead of Danish rider Sebastian Fini Carstensen and Swiss rider Filippo Colombo.

In the women’s elite race, French rider Pauline Ferrand Prevot held on to last year’s title with a comprehensive performance.

The reigning world champion dominated the race and won the fourth European title of her career, beating Dutch riders Anne Terpstra and Anne Tauber by more than a minute.

Italy won the team relay title with Luca Braidot, Filippo Agostinacchio, Martina Berta, Sara Cortinovis, Marika Tovo and Juri Zanotti leading the way ahead of Switzerland and Germany.

For the third year running, the Italians triumphed in the women’s eliminator thanks to Gaia Tormena, who retained her European title.

The silver medal went to Fem van Empel of The Netherlands, while Ukrainian Iryna Popova won bronze.

In the men’s eliminator, Dutch rider and last year's runner-up Jeroen Van Eck won the continental title, beating Frenchman Lorenzo Serres and Swede Joel Burman in the final.

In the women's junior race, French rider Line Burquier triumphed in an exciting duel with Italian Sara Cortinovis.

Cortinovis finished second, with Lea Huber of Switzerland in third place.

Ukraine's Olexandr Hudyma breezed through the men's edition to finish first ahead of Switzerland's Roman Holzer and Alexandre Martins of France.

The under-23 European title went to Switzerland's Joel Roth.

After victory last year in Monte Tamaro, Roth was the star of a hard-fought race, with a group of the best riders gradually dropping back in the final stages.

In the last stretch of the circuit, Roth beat the Italian Juri Zanotti and the German David List in the final sprint.

Austrian Mona Mitterwallner gained the European title in the higher category of the Under 23s, beating the cyclo-cross European champion Puck Pieterse of The Netherlands and Ronja Eibl of Germany.

In 2022, the Elite European MTB Championships will be held in Munich in Germany from August 19 to 20.

The Junior and Under-23 European Championships are set to be held in Anadia in Portugal from July 1 to 3.