Belomoyna takes European under 23 cross country crown

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U23 women

After finishing second at last year's world championship, Iana Belomoyna won the U23 women's cross country  race ahead of European eliminator champion Jenny Rissveds and Germany's Helen Grobert. The Swiss team's hopes rested on Jolanda Neff, who finished fourth, just outside of the medals. Junior world champion Andrea Waldis came in fifth.

New European champion Belomoyna said, "I am really surprised that I could beat Jolanda Neff and Jenny Rissveds, both riding very strongly. Winning here is a huge success.” Just last week, the Ukrainian had won the U23 World Cup race in Val di Sole and she was thus one of today's big favorites.

Rissveds' silver medal however is impressive. She had already participated in the team relay on Thursday, finishing sixth with her Swedish teammates. On Friday, she won the gold medal in the first-ever eliminator competition at a European championship. Speaking of today's second place, she said, "I was tired after yesterday's race and didn't think that my legs would carry me all the way to a medal. My goal was to finish in the top 10. But driving up here on the Gurten was so much fun, I could mobilize all of my reserves.”

Neff was completely exhausted at the finish line. She lost the bronze medal to Grobert on the last climb. "I didn't know what to expect in the U23 race because I've been racing in the elite [ranks] throughout the season. I planned to race at my own speed, but when my opponents overtook me, it was tough to keep up with their pace.”

Neff doubted whether it was the right decision not to start in yesterday's eliminator race, her winning the silver medal at the world championships: "Rissveds showed that it is possible to perform on the highest level two days in a row.”

Junior men

Lukas Baum from Germany won the junior men's cross country title of the European Championship The victory on the Gurten marks the German's biggest success in his young career.

"I prepared well for this event and felt really good during training," the 18 year-old said after his victory. On the downhill section of the course, the Italian Gioele Bertolini was strongest and temporarily took the lead. "I didn't want to take any unnecessary risks, so I waited until the last lap where I could overtake Gioele Bertolini during the climb," the victorious Baum stated at the finish line. The young Italian has won two medals in Bern: After winning with the Italian team in the relay on Thursday evening, he now adds silver to gold.

The battle for third was decided in a sprint between Niels Rasmussen from Denmark and Romain Boutet from France. The young Danish won the bronze medal by hair's breadth. Frank Brückner, coach of the German team, was pleased with the result of his youngsters, four of which finished in the top 20: "We knew that we had three to four strong cyclists on our team who could make an impact on the race.”

Brückner's colleague and Swiss national coach Bruno Diethelm couldn't hide the disappointment with the result of his team: "A top-10 result was our goal. Unfortunately, we couldn't deliver today.”

Nicolas Fischer, the best Swiss and finishing 15th, looked back on his race. "I could not get into a good rhythm during the first half of the race and found myself with stomach problems; the second half was a lot better.”

Junior women cross country

Last year's world championship silver medalist Marlene Degn from Denmark won convincingly with a start to finish victory. "I felt that this was going to be my day," said a delighted Degn at the finish line.

The battle for the other two podium spots was intense and thrilling. Up to the last of the three laps, it looked as if the Swiss Alessandra Keller would be able to secure the silver medal. But in the final stage of the race, Alesandra Keller, who hails from Stans in center Switzerland, was outpaced by the German Sofia Wiedenroth.

"I didn't have the strength to keep up with Sofia after she overtook me," the Swiss rider said after finishing in third. Earlier this season, Alessandra won three races of the BMC Racing Cup.

Full Results

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