Swiss racers dominate European marathon championships

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Switzerland conquered the European Marathon Championships in Montebelluna, Italy by winning the elite men's, elite women's and under 23 titles. Ralph Näf (Multivan Merida), Ester Süss and Konny Looser are the newly crowned European Champions.

Most of Europe's top marathoners were on the line for the 10:00 am start to the European Championships. They were seen off by special guest Mr. Renato Di Rocco, the President of the Italian Cycling Federation.

After increased water levels in the Piave river, organizers modified the course because a necessary bridge for the originally planned course couldn't be built. An additional 15km was added to both races, giving the men a 129.5km race the women a 111.5km contest.

On the first climb of the Montello, the selection was made in the elite men's race with 30 riders getting away. Dutchman Peters Bas led the group of favorites.

At 25km into the race, Alban Lakata (Topeak Ergon Racing Team), Urs Huber, Mirko Celestino (Semperlux Axvevo Haiobike), Jukka Vastaranta, Näf, Tony Longo and Alexey Medvedev led the race.

Three men then attacked the other leaders at 44km including two Italians Mike Felderer (Team Full-Dynamix) and Andrea Tiberi (Surfing Shop Sport). Näf went with them, and the three established a gap on a 10-man chase group.

With more than half the race done, Näf took his chance, attacked and dropped Felderer and Tiberi. He got a gap of half a minute.

By 106km into the race, Näf had two minutes on Felderer and 3:30 on the group with Lakata, Kugler, Tim Böhme, Marc Trayter, Celestino and Vastaranta. Tiberi got dropped and the others were far behind.

With 10 km to go, Näf, rode solo off the front and continued to increase his gap on Felderer. Celestino chased down Felderer and with just a few kilometers to go, he was still set on chasing the Swiss leader. But Näf had an unbeatable margin and crossed the finish line as the new European Champion in 4:59:05.

Mirko Celestino took second at 5:01:45, welcomed by the huge home crowds. Swiss Andreas Kugler, number seven in the international rankings, finished third in 5:02:26. Jukka Vastaranta and Lakata rounded out the top five with Italian Felderer eventually finishing sixth.

Süss, Dahle Flesjaa battle in women's race

Half an hour after the men's race, the women started, and Esther Süss (Wheeler iXS Pro Team) and Blaza Klemencic (Felt Otztal X-Bionic) soon assumed the initial lead.

Jane Nuessli(Credo-Bikes.com), Gunn Rita Dahle Flesjaa (Multivan Merida), Süss and Klemencic and Sundstedt ultimately form the four-woman lead group.

Then Pia Sunsdedt (Rocky Mountain) bridged up to the leaders while Nuessli dropped back to a 10-second gap. Later, Klemencic was dropped leaving Dahle, Süss and Sundstedt to stay in front on their own with a three-minute advantage.

Dahle Flesjaa and Süss rode away from Sunsdedt and were left race each other for victory. With only a few kilometers to go, Süss attacked and got a gap of 30 seconds on Dahle Flesjaa. Süss crossed line in 04:53:17 and won her second European Champion's title.

A minute after, many-time World Champion Gunn Rita Dahle Flesjaa, who feels at home in Montebelluna, finished her race in 4:54:24 with a Norwegian flag in her hands. Pia Sundstedt was third in a time of 4:55:24.

The Swiss made it three for three with Konny Looser winning the Under 23 category. German Matthias Leisling and the Italian Lorenzo Martelli followed in second and third respectively.

Results