The 2023 edition of the Elite MTB European Championships, which took place at the 2023 European Games in Krakow-Małopolska, a multisport event with a total of 29 sports, finished today at Hill Park in Krynica-Zdroj (Poland) with a win by Vlad Dascalu (Romania) in the Elite category.
Today Vlad Dascalu (Romania) won the title after a very complicated circuit made even more difficult by the bad weather of the last few days over the region. Following a very fast start with a leading group including all the favourites right from the beginning, the race heated up in the penultimate lap forced by Luca Braidot (Italy) who split the leading group. Dascalu (Romania), Forster (Switzerland), Schwarzbauer (Germany) and De Froidmont (Belgium) responded to Braidot’s attack. Shortly after the start of the last lap, Vlad Dascalu made a decisive attack and crossed the finish line alone, beating Lars Forster (Switzerland) who was 14'' behind and Luca Braidot (Italy) who finished third at 19''.
Dascalu won the second European title of this career after that of the Under 23 that he won in Brno (Czech Republic) in 2019.
In the women’s, the Dutch rider Puck Pieterse, 21 years of age, achieved victory by literally dominating the race. Already winner of the Under 23 European title last year in Anadia (Portugal) and current Under 23 European Champion, Puck Pieterse took the lead right from the start and was in control throughout the entire race, using her great experience to prevent any possible attacks from her nearest opponents.
Although Puck Pieterse totally dominated, the fight for the other places on the podium between Mona Mitterwallner (Austria) and the Swiss Sina Frei and Jolanda Neff, were particularly exciting. The young Austrian managed to push ahead in the last two laps and won the silver medal at 26", meanwhile the Swiss Sina Frei finished third at 1'.05".
The 2023 MTB Cross-Country European Championships, Short Track and Mixed Relay for Juniors and Under 23 will take place in Anadia (Portugal) from 6 to 9 July and the 2024 edition of the MTB Junior, Under 23 and Elite European Championships will be held in Cheile Grădiștei / Brasov (Romania) from 8 to 12 May.
