ROADS throughout Glasgow city centre will close as hundreds of cyclists sweep through the city to end the historic European Championships.

Dozens of major streets from the West End through to the city centre will close ahead of the road race, which begins at 10.30am.

The likes of Park Circus, St Vincent Street, Bath Street, Sauchiehall Street and George Square will all be closed to traffic, either entirely or in sections.

Parking restrictions will also be in place and trains are expected to be much busier than normal as hundreds gather in the city to watch Europe’s elite cyclists battle it out to take home the gold.

Ahead of the competition, Scotland’s own cycling legend Sir Chris Hoy joined forces with gold-medallist swimmer Adam Peaty in George Square on Friday to encourage more people to get active in a bid to boost their mental health.

The Olympian said: “Everyone should have the chance to get active and learn to use physical activity and sport to help live a happier, healthier life and we need to ensure funding is in place to deliver initiatives to support this.

“I myself have truly benefitted from the positive impact of physical activity and there should never be barriers to prevent anyone from getting active.”

Meanwhile, the semi-final line-ups in the inaugural men’s and women’s European Golf Team Championships have been confirmed, as the battle to be crowned golf’s first European Champions at Gleneagles gathers momentum.

In the men’s competition, Spain’s Scott Fernandez and Pedro Oriol will tee up against Italian duo Francesco Laporta and Alessandro Tadini, who knocked out the last remaining Great Britain Men’s team.

The top ranked Great Britain team of last week’s women’s British Open, including champion Georgia Hall and four-time Major winner, Laura Davies, will face Casja Persson and Linda Wessberg of Sweden in the women’s competition.

Former Open Champion Paul Lawrie, who was at Gleneagles yesterday as part of his Glasgow 2018 Ambassador activities, said of the Mixed Team Championship, which takes place today: “I thought it was cool when I read the format, ladies and men playing together. I think it’s phenomenal.

“Let’s hope if it goes well we can think of doing more going forward because it would be great to have a regular mixed event. Why not?”

However, the games aren’t only having an impact on the sporting arena.

Students at Glasgow Caledonian University were also involved in giving the public demonstrations of life-saving CPR while assisting top triathletes to recover from the competition as the games begin to wind down.

GCU students joined volunteers from Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, Police Scotland, the British Red Cross and British Heart Foundation, among others, to pass on the life-saving lessons organised by Save A Life For Scotland.

Hundreds of children and families took on the I’m CPR Ready scheme throughout the event at Glasgow Green’s GO LIVE!, which comes as the Evening Times’ own Glasgow’s Got Heart campaign aims to ensure every Scottish pupil leaves school with the vital skill.

A team of around 10 first-year physio students from GCU volunteered to offer remedial massage to those competing in the Elite Team Relay and Age Group Sprint Distance events at Strathclyde Country Park today. And the athletes will need the help to relax as they make a final push to bring Team Great Britain into first place.

Currently, Russia is on top of the leaderboard with Team GB just three medals behind.

But with top British athletes, such as Jess Learmonth and Lois Toulson who have already nabbed top spots, the team are in a great position to bring it home for Glasgow.