The Swiss Jolanda Neff and Lars Forster won today in Glasgow (Great Britain) the titles of Cross-Country European Champions.
Some of the best world’s specialists competed in the races held at the Cathkin Braes Mountain Bike Trails which attracted huge crowds.
Right from the start the women’s race was fought out between the favourites of yesterday’s racing. After the five laps on the programme, it was the Swiss Jolanda Neff who broke away from her opponents together with the French rider Pauline Ferrand Prevot and the Norwegian Gunn-Rita Dahle. Shortly after, the current World Champion stepped up the pace and went ahead alone. Behind the Swiss, Dahle had a mechanical problem (broken chain) and was forced to abandon the race leaving her place to those fighting for the silver medal which went to the French rider Pauline Ferrand Prevot, beating the Belgian Githa Michiels who finished third.
This the third European title for Jolanda Neff, reigning European Champion.«This win means a lot to me. Unfortunately last year I fell the day before the race and had to pull out and today this third European Champion jersey is a dream come true.»
The men’s race was totally dominated by the Swiss national team which immediately set a fast pace causing the leading group to break up. Mid-race, three men remained in the lead: the Italian Luca Braidot and the Swiss Lars Forster and Nicola Rohrbach who dropped behind shortly after, leaving Braidot and Forster in the lead. In the last lap, Forster stepped up the pace and rode alone to the finish line. Second place went to Luca Braidot, third to the Spaniard David Valero.
Lars Forster: «I feel in really good shape at the moment and I really hoped I was going to win today. I also owe this win to my team who had a superb race. Now I am going to really enjoy wearing this jersey and I will try to honour it as best as I can in the next few events.»
Information #EuroMTB18 – click here
