Puck Pieterse (Netherlands) and Simone Avondetto (Italy) gained the elite titles on the UEC Mountain Bike European Championships (XCO) held in Cheile Grădiștei, Romania, racing below heavy rain and in muddy situations.
There have been 331 cyclists from 31 international locations, and Switzerland topped the medals desk for all disciplines with 11 medals, together with three golds.
Pieterse gained the elite girls’s occasion, which competed below the worst of the climate situations, after she took an early race lead after which crossed the end line 1:12 forward of runner-up Mona Mitterwallner (Austria) and a couple of:15 forward of third-placed Nina Benz (Germany).
“The day earlier than her twenty second birthday, Puck Pieterse gave herself a tremendous current. In Romania she renewed her European MTB XCO title,” Pieterse’s commerce group Alpecin-Deceuninck wrote in a publish to social media following the race. “In epic climate situations, she rode away from her greatest rival Pauline Ferrand-Prévot simply after midway [through] the race.”
Unfortunately, World Champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot’s race got here to an early finish and he or she was compelled to desert on account of a mid-race crash. Ferrand-Prévot gained the opening quick monitor occasion had lined up as one of many race favourites. She was main the early levels of the XCO occasion with Pieterse earlier than crashing.
In the elite males’s race, Avondetto gained the race forward of pre-race favorite Simon Andreassen (Denmark), who gained the opening quick monitor occasion.
The Danish rider suffered an premature mid-race puncture within the race in opposition to Avondetto and ended up ending in second place at 50 seconds again.
The newest race content material, interviews, options, opinions and professional shopping for guides, direct to your inbox!
Third place went to Julian Schelb (Germany), who completed 1:07 behind the day’s winner.
Simone Avondetto wins the elite males’s title on the UEC XCO European Championships (Image credit score: UEC XCO European Championships)
