Lakata and Süss win gold at European marathon championships

This year's European Marathon Championships took place on Sunday, May 12, as part of the Rothaus Hegau Bike-Marathon in Singen, Germany. Swiss rider Esther Süss and Austrian Alban Lakata won the elite titles. Esther Süss took the gold medal ahead of British rider Sally Bigham and Olympic Champion Sabine Spitz. In the men's race, Lakata triumphed before the unfortunate Christoph Sauser and Czech Kristian Hynek. The best German was Tim Böhme in fourth place.

Men

Lakata won his second marathon European title after 2008, ahead of a disappointed Sauser, who had a mechanical. Barely a hundred meters from the finish, the Swiss rider dropped his chain, while riding in front of Lakata. The Austrian was only a few feet behind him and powered away to victory.

"I was prepared for the final sprint, but, suddenly, Christoph's chain jumped off," said Lakata.

Nevertheless, the Austrian is happy with the title. "I had to toil on the climbs today. In the meantime, I had doubts as to whether that's enough for a medal at all. Today the luck was on my side," said Lakata.

"I can not believe it," Sauser said, shaking his head. "I came here to win. I knew I had to go fast in the corners before the finish. I even opened up a gap."

Kristian Hynek also rode a strong race. He upped the pace on the mountain and reduced the leading gap. "Things might have been even better," Hynek said at the finish. "It could have been more, but I won the bronze and I'm quite content with it," said the defending champion. The Czech rider struggled a lot in the last five kilometers.

Earlier into the race, local hero Tim Böhme had experienced some ups and downs. In the first part of the race, the hometown favourite put in a great effort and after about 40 kilometers, he was seen in the top-10 lead group.

Five men led the race in the longest singletrack section, and Böhme was still there. Swiss rider Thomas Litscher could keep up with them at first, but he gave up later to save energy for the upcoming World Cup in Albstadt.

World champion Periklis Ilias from Greece had a mechanical after about 40 kilometers in the race and lost the connection with the lead group. Eventually, he finished seventh.

Women

The top three favourites for the title pulled away from the rest of the field on the second climb of the day. Sally Bigham, who was fighting a cold during the week, dictated the pace in the front. After 28 kilometers, the trio passed the intermediate timing with two-minute lead on the chasers.

Spitz kept up till Hohentwiel. From then on, she raced solo to a bronze medal, her 26th international medal. "It was simply too cold for me out here. My legs were frozen. But I am quite confident for the World Cup in Albstadt," said Spitz.

Therefore, the battle for the title was between Esther Süss and Bigham. "Now that Sabine was gone, I told Sally that we have to work together," said Süss.

That worked until about 15 kilometers from the finish. Bigham descended fast, but so was Süss who also had chosen good tires for the race. "I would have waited with my attack, but Sally seemed a bit impatient, so I told myself no more waiting," said Süss. She pulled away on a climb and took her third marathon European title of her career.

"I had great legs and I had a lot of fun on the climbs. I won my third marathon European title which is super great," said a happy Süss.

Bigham was also satisfied. "Under these circumstances and in this cold weather, I can only say that I'm very satisfied, even if it's a silver for the third time in a row. But I'll put an end to it next year in Ireland, "she said.

Kathrin Stirnemann was Silke Schmidt rounded out the top five in fourth and fifth.

U23 golds to Poland and Finland

Polish rider Bartlomiej Wawak topped the U23 category in front of Swiss Enea Vetsch. Christian Pfäffle won the bronze medal.

Only four riders were at the start of the women's U23 race. The Finn Jasmin Kansikas was crowned U23 European champion. Regina Genser came in 2:56 minutes back, one second ahead of Irina Krenn from Austria.

Full Results

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Elite men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Alban Lakata (Austria)3:37:48
2Christoph Sauser (Switzerland)0:00:18
3Kristian Hynek (Czech Republic)0:00:53
4Tim Bohme (Germany)0:05:30
5Christoph Soukup (Austria)0:06:12
6Urs Huber (Switzerland)0:06:58
7Periklis Ilias (Greece)0:07:08
8Mirko Celestino (Italy)0:07:20
9Adrian Brzozka (Poland)0:08:12
10Pavel Boudny (Czech Republic)0:08:32
11Jochen Kass (Germany)0:08:39
12Robert Mennen (Germany)0:08:40
13Frans Claes (Belgium)0:11:41
14Markus Kaufmann (Germany)0:11:59
15Jukka Vastaranta (Finland)0:12:02
16Sören Nissen (Denmark)0:12:53
17Marzio Deho (Italy)0:13:30
18Jérémy Huguenin (Switzerland)0:13:34
19Hermann Pernsteiner (Austria)0:14:08
20Michal Bubilek (Czech Republic)0:14:10
21Bartosz Banach (Poland)0:14:15
22Enrico Franzoi (Italy)0:14:56
23Karl Platt (Germany)0:15:59
24Daniel Geismayr (Austria)0:16:48
25Hansueli Stauffer (Switzerland)0:17:39
26Walter Costa (Italy)0:18:42
27Jiri Novak (Czech Republic)0:18:44
28Michal Lami (Slovakia)0:19:18
29Cristian Cominelli (Italy)0:19:24
30Aleksander Dorozala (Poland)0:19:37
31Jesus Del Nero Montes (Spain)0:19:40
32Friedrich Dahler (Switzerland)0:19:43
33Philipp Gerber (Switzerland)0:21:01
34Christian Schneidawind (Germany)0:21:15
35Jürg Graf (Switzerland)0:21:39
36Tomasz Drozdz (Poland)0:24:39
37Tony Longo (Italy)0:24:45
38Francisco Perez Sanchez (Spain)0:25:12
39Juan Pedro Trujillo Hernandez (Spain)0:25:14
40Paul Remy (France)0:25:42
41Bogdan Czarnota (Poland)0:25:43
42Torsten Marx (Germany)0:25:47
43David Schöggl (Austria)0:26:20
44Wolfgang Mayer (Germany)0:26:21
45Steffen Thum (Germany)0:27:42
46Andreas Kleiber (Germany)0:28:55
47Damian Perrin (Switzerland)0:29:44
48Lars Ragnar Manengen (Norway)0:29:49
49Rupert Palmberger (Germany)0:29:50
50Florian Thie (Switzerland)0:30:47
51Norbert Wyss (Switzerland)0:30:56
52Valtteri Repo (Finland)0:32:01
53Daniel Rubisoier (Austria)0:32:13
54Manuel Pliem (Austria)0:32:47
55Krzysztof Krzywy (Poland)0:33:17
56Bartosz Janowski (Poland)0:33:52
57Matthias Gärtner (Germany)0:33:56
58Björn Herrmann (Germany)0:34:24
59Adrian Jusinski (Poland)0:34:28
60Thomas Schmid (Switzerland)0:34:49
61Konny Looser (Switzerland)0:37:29
62Daniel Aspacher (Germany)0:38:12
63Peter Reiche (Germany)Row 62 - Cell 2
64Mateusz Zon (Poland)0:41:28
65Oliver Schär (Switzerland)0:41:57
66Oliver Vonhausen (Germany)0:42:31
67Florian Bolt (Switzerland)0:42:49
68Matthias Grick (Austria)0:43:14
69Georgios Dantos (Greece)0:43:36
70Mathias Alig (Switzerland)0:44:22
71Sebastian Geimecke (Germany)0:46:16
72Andreas Schindler (Germany)0:47:14
73Ragnar Wirths (Germany)0:48:37
74Christian Haas (Austria)Row 73 - Cell 2
75Sandro Soncin (Switzerland)0:48:45
76Johannes Közle (Germany)0:50:09
77Christian Burger (Germany)0:50:16
78Xavier Dafflon (Switzerland)0:50:36
79Philipp Becker (Germany)0:53:14
80Gregor Menzel (Germany)0:55:04
81Benjamin Merkel (Germany)1:00:19
82Denis Kabanen (Russian Federation)1:00:33
83Wolfgang Mair (Germany)1:01:23
84Arndt Weidenhagen (Germany)1:04:03
85Norbert Gorres (Germany)1:04:40
86Christian Ludewig (Germany)1:08:54
87Lukas Sustr (Czech Republic)1:10:29
88Mart Otten (Netherlands)1:10:56
89Daniel Graf (Germany)1:12:27
90Erkan Sakallioglu (Germany)1:14:26
91Florian Gruber (Austria)1:20:18
92Christoph Rytz (Switzerland)1:24:40
DNFThomas Litscher (Switzerland)Row 92 - Cell 2
DNFGiacomo Antonello (Italy)Row 93 - Cell 2
DNFAnton Sintsov (Russian Federation)Row 94 - Cell 2
DNFLuca Ronchi (Italy)Row 95 - Cell 2
DNFUwe Hardter (Germany)Row 96 - Cell 2
DNFTimo Modosch (Germany)Row 97 - Cell 2
DNFMax Holz (Germany)Row 98 - Cell 2
DNFMattia Longa (Italy)Row 99 - Cell 2
DNFDaniel Gathof (Germany)Row 100 - Cell 2
DNFPiotr Brzozka (Poland)Row 101 - Cell 2
DNFPhilipp Pangerl (Germany)Row 102 - Cell 2
DNFGuido Thaler (Austria)Row 103 - Cell 2
DNFFlorian Willbold (Germany)Row 104 - Cell 2
DNFMaxime Nguyen (France)Row 105 - Cell 2
DNFTimo Häfner (Germany)Row 106 - Cell 2
DNFFrederic Gombert (France)Row 107 - Cell 2
DNFSimon Staufner (Germany)Row 108 - Cell 2
DNFFabian Beck (Germany)Row 109 - Cell 2
DNFSascha Burghardt (Germany)Row 110 - Cell 2
DNFSimon Gegenheimer (Germany)Row 111 - Cell 2
DNFMichael Gnannt (Germany)Row 112 - Cell 2
DNFChristoph Braun (Germany)Row 113 - Cell 2
DNFMarcel Mettel (Germany)Row 114 - Cell 2
DNFStefan Hutzelmann (Germany)Row 115 - Cell 2
DNFJan Hofmeyer (Germany)Row 116 - Cell 2
DNFAntoni Ardouin (France)Row 117 - Cell 2
DNFAndreas Basler (Germany)Row 118 - Cell 2
DNFBenoit Beaud (Switzerland)Row 119 - Cell 2
DNFMatthias Bettinger (Germany)Row 120 - Cell 2
DNFJulian Biefang (Germany)Row 121 - Cell 2
DNFThomas Dietsch (France)Row 122 - Cell 2
DNFDamiano Ferraro (Italy)Row 123 - Cell 2
DNFHannes Genze (Germany)Row 124 - Cell 2
DNFRoman Herrmann (Germany)Row 125 - Cell 2
DNFMatthias Leisling (Germany)Row 126 - Cell 2
DNFVojta Marvan (Czech Republic)Row 127 - Cell 2
DNFStefan Roffler (Switzerland)Row 128 - Cell 2
DNFStefan Sahm (Germany)Row 129 - Cell 2
DNFBenjamin Stark (Germany)Row 130 - Cell 2
DNSDaniel Eiermann (Germany)Row 131 - Cell 2
DNSMaximilian Eitler (Germany)Row 132 - Cell 2
DNSMartin Feichtegger (Austria)Row 133 - Cell 2
DNSYann Fromont (France)Row 134 - Cell 2
DNSWill Hayter (Great Britain)Row 135 - Cell 2
DNSWolfgang Krenn (Austria)Row 136 - Cell 2
DNSChristian Kreuchler (Germany)Row 137 - Cell 2
DNSPatrick Leuzinger (Switzerland)Row 138 - Cell 2
DNSTimo Link-Fritsche (Germany)Row 139 - Cell 2
DNSRalph Näf (Switzerland)Row 140 - Cell 2
DNSChristopher Pedder (Great Britain)Row 141 - Cell 2
DNSMarcel Reiser (Germany)Row 142 - Cell 2
DNSRene Ruzmarinovic (Austria)Row 143 - Cell 2
DNSBram Saeys (Belgium)Row 144 - Cell 2
DNSMichael Schuchardt (Germany)Row 145 - Cell 2
DNSStuart Spies (Great Britain)Row 146 - Cell 2
DNSSimon Stiebjahn (Germany)Row 147 - Cell 2
DNSThomas Stoll (Switzerland)Row 148 - Cell 2
DNSMichael Teutschmann (Switzerland)Row 149 - Cell 2
DNSSönke Wegner (Germany)Row 150 - Cell 2
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Elite women
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Esther Süss (Switzerland)3:23:00
2Sally Bigham (Great Britain)0:01:06
3Sabine Spitz (Germany)0:07:52
4Kathrin Stirnemann (Switzerland)0:15:03
5Silke Schmidt (Germany)0:15:17
6Borghild Løvset (Norway)0:16:04
7Hielke Elferink (Netherlands)0:16:39
8Gabriele Stanger (Germany)0:16:40
9Michalina Ziolkowska (Poland)0:18:16
10Hildegunn Hovdenak (Norway)0:19:50
11Lisa Pleyer (Austria)0:21:12
12Dana Rožlapa (Latvia)0:25:02
13Sabine Sommer (Austria)0:25:37
14Kristina Weber (Germany)0:26:18
15Almut Grieb (Germany)0:27:26
16Laura Turpijn (Netherlands)Row 15 - Cell 2
17Sofia Pezzatti (Switzerland)0:27:35
18Kim Saenen (Belgium)0:27:36
19Heidi Rosasen Sandsto (Norway)0:29:25
20Magdalena Sadlecka (Poland)0:31:33
21Verena Krenslehner (Austria)0:33:02
22Erika Speck (Switzerland)0:34:25
23Katrin Schwing (Germany)0:37:50
24Alexandra Clement (Switzerland)0:39:51
25Sandrine Ponsard (France)0:41:12
26Cemile Trommer (Germany)0:44:52
27Annika Bergman (Sweden)0:49:08
28Silke Keinath (Germany)0:53:14
29Bettina Uhlig (Germany)1:01:17
30Veronika Weib (Germany)1:07:24
DNFMilena Landtwing (Switzerland)Row 30 - Cell 2
DNFElisabeth Brandau (Germany)Row 31 - Cell 2
DNFKathy Alberti (Germany)Row 32 - Cell 2
DNFAnn-Katrin Hellstern (Germany)Row 33 - Cell 2
DNFPavlina Sulcova (Czech Republic)Row 34 - Cell 2
DNSDosa Eszter (Hungary)Row 35 - Cell 2
DNSAnnette Griner (Germany)Row 36 - Cell 2
DNSJane Nüssli (Great Britain)Row 37 - Cell 2
DNSVirginie Pointet (Switzerland)Row 38 - Cell 2
DNSAnna Szafraniec (Poland)Row 39 - Cell 2
DNSChristina Verhas (Austria)Row 40 - Cell 2
DNSMichèle Wittlin (Switzerland)Row 41 - Cell 2
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U23 men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Bartlomiej Wawak (Poland)3:51:56
2Enea Vetsch (Switzerland)0:07:37
3Christian Pfäffle (Germany)0:10:39
4Ben Zwiehoff (Germany)0:13:40
5Jan Nesvadba (Czech Republic)0:14:52
6Felix Huschle (Germany)0:16:39
7Oliver Laudenberg (Germany)0:17:49
8Frantisek Lami (Slovakia)0:18:26
9Bart Classens (Netherlands)0:18:29
10Rémi Laffont (France)0:18:41
11Rick Reimann (Switzerland)0:19:55
12Anselm Wüllner (Germany)0:24:12
13Johannes Wagner (Germany)0:26:43
14Lysander Kiesel (Germany)0:29:15
15Andre Schütz (Germany)0:30:37
16Martin Kamml (Germany)0:32:10
17Jonas Müller (Germany)0:32:15
18Jan-Nils Preus (Germany)0:32:28
19Jan Schär (Switzerland)0:32:48
20Sven Mägdefessel (Germany)0:36:57
21Florian Kortüm (Germany)0:37:36
22Vincent Arnaud (France)0:39:11
23Pascal Nay (Switzerland)0:39:39
24Alexander Gläser (Germany)0:41:10
25David Büschler (Germany)0:43:01
26Matthias Baldauf (Germany)0:45:40
27Jakob Britz (Germany)0:46:38
28Marcin Kowalczyk (Poland)0:53:35
29Tobias Sindlinger (Germany)0:58:49
30Dominik Gansler (Germany)1:00:32
31Adrian Sauer (Germany)1:01:51
32Daniel Sauter (Germany)1:05:59
33Christian Schöllhorn (Germany)1:06:01
34Lennart Jasper (Germany)1:13:03
DNFMarcus Nicolai (Germany)Row 34 - Cell 2
DNFSilvan Kälin (Switzerland)Row 35 - Cell 2
DNFAndreas Hartmann (Germany)Row 36 - Cell 2
DNFAlexander Bietz (Germany)Row 37 - Cell 2
DNFAndreas Fuchs (Austria)Row 38 - Cell 2
DNFVincent Günther (Germany)Row 39 - Cell 2
DNFPim Heinrich (Switzerland)Row 40 - Cell 2
DNFMatthias Reichart (Germany)Row 41 - Cell 2
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U23 women
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Jasmin Kansikas (Finland)3:49:19
2Regina Genser (Germany)0:02:56
3Irina Krenn (Austria)0:13:25
4Chiara Eberle (Germany)0:18:31

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