The MTB, Junior and Under 23 Championships finished today in Stattegg (Austria). 285 riders took part from 31 countries.
The continental event was dominated by the French national team which won 5 medals (two golds, two silvers and one bronze) beating Switzerland and Italy.
The Championships’ programme in Stattegg started with the Team Relay and a win by Italy. The team comprising Luca Braidot, Marika Tovo, Filippo Fontana, Chiara Teocchi and Jury Zanotti overpowered the Swiss team (with Joris Ryf, Alexandre Balmer, Alessandra Keller, Sina Frei and Filippo Colombo) especially thanks to the last lap when Jury Zanotti caught up the Swiss rider Filippo Colombo and then went on to cross the finish line 14” in front. Denmark took the third step on the podium with Jonas Lindberg, Alexander Young Andersen, Simon Andreassen, Caroline Bohe and Malene Degn.
No surprises in the Women’s Eliminator race. On the spectacular Karmeliterplatz circuit in Graz city centre, the Ukraine rider Iryna Popova beat the French rider Coline Clauzure and Barbora Průdková (Czech Republic).
Among the riders in the Men’s events was the country’s own, former World Champion Daniel Federspield who raced brilliantly to get to the final encouraged by the local public. However, after two false starts in the final, Federspield was disqualified and the titles went to three French riders: win by the current World Champion Titouan Perrin Garnier, who repeated his success in 2017, ahead of Lorenzo Serres and Simon Rogier.
The Cross-Country races took place in Stattegg. In the Women’s Junior race, as expected, the Austrian Laura Stigger had a decisive win over her opponents. Behind the champion, the battle for second place was won by the British rider Harriet Harnden who managed to beat her main rival in the race final, the Czech Tereza Saskova, who finished third.
Also in the Men’s events, the favourite, the Swiss Alexandre Balmer took first place. Second, two weeks ago in the Road European Championships in Zlin (Czech Republic), Balmer got off to a good start and was ahead throughout the entire race. Behind him, the race was fiercely fought out especially between the Italians Avondetto and Toccoli and the Germans Schab and Kaiser. Three laps from the finish, Simone Avondetto broke away and won the silver medal, beating Leon Reinhard Kaiser (Germany).
The Women’s Under 23 race was without doubt totally dominated by the reigning World Champion Sina Frei (Switzerland). The Swiss attacked immediately and rode alone leading the entire race. Second place went to the Italian Marika Tovo, third place to the Spaniard Rocio Garcia.
The last race in the programme for the Under 23s was closely fought. The Frenchman Joshua Dubau was the star of the race. He broke away immediately after the start and lead the entire race slightly ahead of his closest rivals who were unable to catch him up in the final. Behind him was the Swiss Filippo Colombo taking second place in 19” and the Dutch rider Milan Vader finished third in 43”
The Elite European Championships will be held in Glasgow (Great Britain) on 7 August.
Results #EuroMTB18 – click here
