Gold medal collection complete; the Gunn-Rita Dahle-Flesja diary

It was an awesome experience to become European Champion in Marathon cycling. It was the only gold medal which was missing from our collection. The day was extra special for Multivan Merida biking team too, as my Swiss team-mate Ralph Näf won the men's class.

It's Wednesday afternoon here in the Italian town of Alpago where we've been living since last Monday. As usual, the days pass very quickly when we're preparing for a championship.

Last week our entire focus was on my legs - lots of rest, fine adjustments to my training every day, lots of bending and stretching, correct nutrition and a grand total of nine hours of massage. In order to have a chance at a medal in the European Championship Marathon, it was of ultimate importance for me to get my legs back in fighting fettle after the stage road races the previous week, in addition to a lot of training in the period before that.