The MTB European Championships finished this afternoon in Brno (Czech Republic) where 9 continental titles were awarded as well as those in the Masters categories.
In the Elite races, in front of a crowd of 10,000 who watched the races at the Anthropos Bike Arena, it was the two best MTB riders in the world who were crowned champions: Mathieu van der Poel (Netherlands) and Jolanda Neff (Switzerland).
The Men’s race was dominated by the Dutch talent, already Cyclo-Cross World and European Champion and silver medallist at the Road European Championships last year, who initially fell in the first lap before powering ahead of his opponents.
Van der Poel, this year’s winner of the Amstel Gold Race, once again demonstrated his great class by attacking on the third of the eight laps on the programme, flying to the finish alone 43’’ ahead of the current European champion Florian Vogel (Switzerland) and 1:02” over Milan Vader (Netherlands).
Also in the Women’s Elite, a clear win by the multiple champion Jolanda Neff. The Swiss, current European champion controlled the race and was a true powerhouse. She attacked in the first lap overtaking her opponents and crossing the finish line 2:52” ahead of the Ukrainian Yana Belomoina, winner of the European title in 2017 and 3:05” over Elisabeth Brandau (Germany).
The Brno European Championships began with the Team Relay and a victory by Switzerland (Joel Roth, Dario Lillo, Ramona Forchini, Sina Frei and Andri Frischknet) following a particularly fierce race beating Italy (Simone Avondetto, Andrea Colombo, Eva Lechner, Martina Berta and Luca Braidot) and Denmark (Sebastian Fini, Markus Heuer, Sofie Pedersen, Caroline Bohe, Simon Andreassen).
Like last year, the Men’s Eliminator Podium was monopolised by the French riders with Hugo Briatta beating his compatriots Titouan Perrin Garnier, current World Champion and Lorenzo Serres, meanwhile in the Women’s the very young Italian Gaia Tormena (just turned 17) beat the French World Champion Coline Clauzure and the Spaniard Magdalena Duran.
Swiss success in the Women’s Cross-Country thanks to Jacqueline Schneebeli who controlled her main opponents in the initial stages of the race and sped to a solo victory winning the European title. The Austrian Mona Mitterwallner finished 1:52” later, ahead of the Briton Harriet Harnden at 2:17”.
It was a sprint that decided the Junior Men’s race, won by the Belgian Lukas Malezsewski, in front of Janis Baumann (Switzerland) and the British rider Harry Birchill who finished third at 1:09”.
In the Women’s Under 23, the Swiss Sina Frei won the fifth consecutive European title of her career. Sina Frei, winner of the gold medal two days ago in the Team Relay, dominated the race right from the start leaving behind her the young Austrian Laura Stigger, last year’s Junior winner of the XCO world and European titles and the rainbow jersey in the Road races, and the French rider Loana Lecomte.
The Under 23s race ended with a win by Vlad Dascalu who earned a historic gold medal for Romania. Vlad Dascalu lead a superb race attacking his main opponents in the second half of the race. Behind him, by 59”, the Swiss Filippo Colombo followed by Maximilian Brandl (Germany) third at 1:36”.
In the final medals table, Switzerland took the top spot with seven medals (four gold and three silver), ahead of France (one gold, two silver and two bronze) and Italy (one silver and one bronze).
Rocco Cattaneo, President of the Union Européenne de Cyclisme: «This edition in Brno has been one of the best of the last few years for the MTB European Championships. The success of this event is due to a series of factors including the technical skill of the competitors who gave great performances in front of huge crowds and all the fans watching at home on live TV. I would especially like to thank all members of the Organising Committee, chaired by Lubomír Vidlák for their commitment and professionalism in staging such a large scale event and paying attention to every detail highlighting their great passion for the sport.
Thank you also to all the volunteers that played a major role in the success of these Championships. Thanks also to the Czech Cycling Federation, its President Petr Marek and the City of Brno as well as its Mayor Markéta Vaňková for hosting these Championships with so much enthusiasm.»
The next edition of the MTB European Championships will be in Graz (Austria) from 14 -17 May 2020.
Results #EuroMTB19 – click here
