Battocletti bids to retain European Cross Country title - watch on BBC

Portugal will host the European Cross Country Championships for a fourth time this weekend as its 31st edition heads to Lagos, with all the action live on the BBC.

At last year's event in Turkey, Norway's two-time Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen won his third senior men's title and Nadia Battocletti of Italy took gold in the senior women's race.

World track stars to look out for

Battocletti became the first woman in championship history last year to win individual titles at U20, U23 and senior level. She looks primed to defend her title this year, but will face tough competition from Turkey's Yasemin Can, although the 29-year-old is yet to find her earlier career form that saw her win four successive titles between 2016 and 2019.

Belgian Jana van Lent, Great Britain's Megan Keith and Portugal's Mariana Machado will all pose a threat to the title.

Jimmy Gressier has won golds in both the 10,000m at the World Championships and the half marathon at the European Running Championships in Brussels-Leuven in 2025.

The world champion will be aiming to complete a set of three titles on three different surfaces this year in what will be his first appearance at the Cross Country Championships since 2021.

Jakob Ingebrigtsen was due to race for his fourth senior men's title after winning gold in Antalya last December.

It's been an injury-plagued 2025 season so far for the Norwegian, whose withdrawal this week came after previously announcing that he would return to competition where he made his debut as a 16 year-old.

Dominic Lobalu, of Switzerland, also poses a threat to Ingerbritsen's title in the men's race, with Spain's Thierry Ndikumwenayo and Ruben Querinjean of Luxembourg also in contention.

Strong squad selection for GB & Northern Ireland

A talented Great Britain and Northern Ireland squad will head to Lagos, with serial trial winners Scott Beattie and Cari Hughes leading the entries for the respective men's and women's teams after their impressive runs in the Liverpool Cross Challenge in November.

Megan Keith joins the senior women's squad, after finishing fourth in Spain at the World Athletics Cross Country Tour Gold event last week.

Abbie Donnelly, who recently ran 2:24 at the Frankfurt Marathon, joins Keith in the squad. Phoebe Anderson also steps up into the senior team for the first time after winning the U23 European title last year.

British 10k record holder Rory Leonard, who finished runner-up in Liverpool, joins the men's senior squad.

After setting a course record in the Northern Counties Relay Championships, Calum Johnson and Joe Hudson, who finished fifth in Liverpool, also make the cut. Will Barnicoat will also be aiming to retain the U23 European crown for a third time.

Cross Country schedule and BBC coverage

Live coverage of all the action, including both Men's and Women's Senior races, will be available on iPlayer, the BBC Sport website and BBC Sport app from 09:20 on Sunday 14 December, with highlights later that day from 16:40 on BBC Two.

09:30 U20 Women Race (4450m)

10:00 U20 Men Race (4450m)

10:26 U23 Women Race (5960m)

11:00 U23 Men Race (5960m)

11:30 Mixed Relay (1300m; 1510m; 1510m; 1640m)

12:00 Senior Women Race (7470m)

12:41 Senior Men Race (7470m)

14 December:

Red Button - 09:20 - 15:00 European Cross Country Championships 2025

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002nqmm

14 December:

BBC Two - 16:40 - 17:40 European Cross Country Championships 2025 Highlights

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002nnrn