Prefering to give the underrepresented their time in the sun, the European Championships, held this year in Liévin, France, ditch the Elite Men and only hold races for Europe’s Elite Women, U23 Men and Junior Men. While not the most prestigious and hotly contested title out there, being the Champion of Europe has a certain ring to it. The title has only been around since 2003, but since then it has seen a number of the sport’s biggest name taking home the championship. The likes of current World Champions Hanka Kupfernagel and Lars Boom have won along with Daphny Van den Brand, Niels Albert and Marianne Vos, so the race has a storied history.
The women’s race, which featured some of Europe’s best, was taken home by a slim margin by reigning world champion, Hanka Kupfernagel of Germany. Maryline Salvetat, racing on her soil, was in contention until the last lap but was bested in the sprint for the line by Kupfernagel, who looks all but unstoppable at this point in the season. Clearly showing great from from her racing in the United States, Luna Chix’s Katerina Nash (in this racing representing the Czech Republic) took home a surprise bronze medal, and in so doing shook up the balance of power in the European Circuit. France’s Christel Ferrier-Bruneau put some dayling between herself and Daphny Van den Brand of the Netherlands to finish fourth, 22 seconds off the winner, with Van den Brand a further 8 seconds back in fifth. Saskia Elemans, Pavla Havlikova, Helen Wyman, Sanne Cant and Caroline Mani rounded out the top ten. Kupfernagel clearly looks like the woman to beat this year across the pond and she certainly is doing the stripes proud.
In many ways, the U23 men’s race was a carbon copy of the Women’s race. A German, who is red-hot at the moment, takes a commanding victor over a French challenger. Philipp Walsleben, who took home the victory in the U23 race at last weekend’s World Cup in Tabor, once again showed the Espoir peleton who was boss, winning by 56 seconds over France’s Aurélien Duval. 1:04 back from Walsleben was Kenneth Van Compernolle of Belgium, taking home the bronze medal. Belgium’s Quentin Bertholet rolled across the line in fourth followed by Germany’s Marcel Meisen. Walsleben is quickly proving to be the best of this year’s crop of U23 racers with strong performances in every stop he’s made this season. Duval is no stranger to big performances on big stages, coming in second in last year’s U23 World Championships and will no doubt battle Walsleben at every step this season. But for now, all eyes will be on Walsleben to see just how long he can continue his dominance.
Tijmen Eising went and spoiled the Germans’ party (before it got started, actually… he raced first) by winning the Junior European Championship in a hotly contested running. Eising had also won the previous stop on the World Cup circuit in Tabor and was looking to carry that form into a European Championship trophy. He did just that by beating The Netherlands’ Lars Van Der Haar by 11 seconds and Belgium’s Sean De Bie by a further five seconds. The Czech Republic’s Jan Nesvabda was fourth at 31 seconds followed by Italy’s Bryan Falaschi at 33 seconds. Eising went on the attack half way through the race, and none of the chasers could get back onto terms with the flying Dutchman.
Elite Women
1 Hanka Kupfernagel (Germany)
2 Maryline Salvetat (France)
3 Katerina Nash (Czech Republic)
4 Christel Ferrier Bruneau (France)
5 Daphny Van Den Brand (Nederlands)
6 Saskia Elemans (Nederlands)
7 Pavla Havlikova (Czech Republic)
8 Helen Wyman (Great Britain)
9 Sanne Cant (Belgium)
10 Caroline Mani (France)
11 Sanne Van Paassen (Nederlands)
12 Pauline Ferrand Prevot (France)
13 Nadia Triquet Claude (France)
14 Veerle Ingels (Belgium)
15 Linda Van Rijen (Nederlands)
16 Gabriella Day (Great Britain)
17 Jana Kyptova (Czech Republic)
18 Veronica Alessio (Italia)
19 Daniela Bresciani (Italia)
20 Arenda Grimberg (Nederlands)
21 Francesca Cucciniello (Italia)
22 Jitka Skarnitzlova (Czech Republic)
23 Jennifer Sagesser (Switzerland)
One lap behind
24 Jana Suss (Germany)
25 Zuzana Vojtasova (Slovakia)
DNF Joyce Van Der Beken (Belgium)
DNF Stefania Vecchio (Italia)
DNF Lise Muller (Switzerland)
U23 Men
1 Philip Walsleben (Germany)
2 Aurélien Duval (France)
3 Kenneth Van Compernolle (Belgium)
4 Quentin Bertholet (Belgium)
5 Marcel Meisen (Germany)
6 Romain Lejeune (France)
7 Robert Gavenda (Slovakia)
8 Guillaume Perrot (France)
9 Jiri Polnicky (Czech Republic)
10 Joeri Adams (Belgium)
11 Jim Aernouts (Belgium)
12 Arnaud Jouffroy (France)
13 Ivar Hartogs (Nederlands)
14 Wim Leemans (Belgium)
15 Ondrej Bambula (Czech Republic)
16 Twan Van Den Brand (Nederlands)
17 Mitchell Huenders (Nederlands)
18 Ramon Sinkeldam (Nederlands)
19 Clément Bourgoin (France)
20 Marco Ponta (Italia)
21 Kevin Eeckhout (Belgium)
22 Nico Brüngger (Switzerland)
23 Cristian Cominelli (Italia)
24 Ole Quast (Germany)
25 Matthieu Boulo (France)
26 Lubomir Petrus (Czech Republic)
27 Thibaud Toury (France)
28 Valentin Scherz (Switzerland)
29 Lukas Prihoda (Czech Republic)
30 Yannick Tiedt (Germany)
31 Alessandro Calderan (Italia)
32 Micki Van Empel (Nederlands)
33 Matthias Rupp (Switzerland)
One lap behind
34 Stephan Sprinke (Germany)
35 Sascha Weber (Germany)
36 Scott Thwaites (Great Britain)
37 Matteo Trentin (Italia)
DNF Tom Meeusen (Belgium)
DNF Vincent Baestaens (Belgium)
DNF Thomas Girard (France)
DNF Mark Thwaites (Great Britain)
DNF Lukas Kloucek (Czech Republic)
DNF David Menger (Czech Republic)
DNF Mathias Flückiger (Switzerland)
Junior Men
1 Tijmen Eising (Nederlands)
2 Lars Van Der Haar (Nederlands)
3 Sean De Bie (Belgium)
4 Jan Nesvadba (Czech Republic)
5 Bryan Falaschi (Italia)
6 Pierre Garson (France)
7 Valentin Hadoux (France)
8 Luca Braidot (Italia)
9 Karel Hnik (Czech Republic)
10 Matthias Bossuyt (Belgium)
11 Jimmy Turgis (France)
12 Daniele Braidot (Italia)
13 Radek Polnicky (Czech Republic)
14 Wietse Bosmans (Belgium)
15 Michiel Van Der Heijden (Nederlands)
16 Emilien Barben (Switzerland)
17 Vinnie Braet (Belgium)
18 Mike Teunissen (Nederlands)
19 Flavien Dassonville (France)
20 Michael Boros (Czech Republic)
21 Valentijn Van De Velde (Belgium)
22 Lukas Müller (Switzerland)
23 Michele Tatto (Italia)
24 Ritchie Denolf (Belgium)
25 Emilien Viennet (France)
26 Nicolas Genebrier (France)
27 Angelo De Clercq (Belgium)
28 Corne Van Kessel (Nederlands)
29 Anthony Grand (Switzerland)
30 Enno Quast (Germany)
31 Zeb Veestraeten (Belgium)
32 Matej Lasak (Czech Republic)
33 Toni Bretschneider (Germany)
34 Matei Medved (Slovakia)
35 Anthony Maldonado (France)
36 Joel Peter (Switzerland)
37 Daniel Mclay (Great Britain)
38 Jannick Geisler (Germany)
39 Oliver Webster (Great Britain)
40 Thomas Lowe (Great Britain)
One lap behind
41 Christop Altenkirch (Germany)
42 David Nichols (Great Britain)
DNF Tomas Paprstka (Czech Republic)
