Great Britain dominated the 2024 edition of the Track Juniors and U23 European Championships, which took place at the Lausitz Velodrom in Cottbus (Germany).
At the end of the six days of competition, attended by a total of 4,000 spectators, British athletes topped the final medal table, winning a total of 26 medals: 12 gold (out of the 44 at stake), 8 silver and 6 bronze, ahead of Germany (7, 12 and 3) and Italy (7, 7 and 6).
As for the British successes, the women's sector was confirmed at a particularly high level with eight gold medals, as was the host country, Germany, particularly in the Junior Women's category thanks to victories in the Team and Individual Pursuit (with Joelle Amelie Messemer) and in the Team Sprint, to which Clara Schneider added her victory in the Keirin Under 23.
In the Men's event, Italy won the most gold medals: Team Pursuit in both categories, Team Sprint and Keirin Under 23 and Madison Juniors.
The continental event also brought out some particularly interesting individuals, such as Belgian Under 23 Noah Vandenbranden, gold medallist in the Individual Pursuit and Omnium, French Taky Marie Divine Kouame, first in the Under 23 Sprint and 500 metres, the Italians Davide Stella and Eros Sporzon, who won the Junior Madison and Team Pursuit titles (with Fantini, Costa and Magagnotti), the Ukrainian Junior Heorhii Chyzhykov, gold medal in the Scratch and the Irish Emilie Lucy Benezet Minns, first in the Junior Women's Points Race.
Enrico Della Casa, President of the Union Européenne de Cyclisme: "At the close of these Track European Cycling Championships for Juniors and Under 23s, I would like to express my most sincere gratitude to all those who made this event possible, an event of great importance for the promotion of cycling and young athletes.
I'd like to extend my warmest thanks to the organisers, led by Axel Viertler, for their tireless work and dedication to the success of these Championships, and to the German Cycling Federation with its President Rudolf Scharping for supporting these Championships with the same passion it has always had for our activity. I would also like to thank the National Federations for their support and invaluable collaboration, particularly when unfavourable weather conditions forced us to revise the programme. Their flexibility and team spirit enabled us to overcome these difficulties and offer an event of the highest level".
The next edition of the UEC Track Juniors and Under 23 European Championships will be held in Anadia (Portugal) from 15 to 10 July 2025.
