Viviani takes second gold medal European Track Championships

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Cannondale sprinter Elia Viviani came to the European Championships to add some more track gold to his palmares. On Friday the Italian won the gold medal in the points race. On the final day of the event in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, he added the gold in the Madison with his partner Liam Bertazzo.

In the 200 laps Madison race Viviani and Bertazzo were the first pair to take a lap. Spanish David Muntaner and Albert Torres, the silver medal winners from the World Championships in Minsk this year, were quick to follow. With help from the other Spanish pair in the race Maetzu/Mora, they managed to take more points than the Italian duo.

With a 18-19 score for the Spanish before the final sprint, it was Viviani who was launched by Bertazzo to sprint to three points. The Spanish managed to take only one point and had to settle for silver. Kenny de Ketele and Gijs van Hoecke, the 2012 World Champions, took bronze.

In the keirin it was German powerhouse Maximilian Levy who took his second gold of the tournament. After the team sprint on Friday with Robert Förstemann and René Enders, Levy outsprinted world champion Jason Kenny in the keirin final. Francois Pervis of France took the bronze medal.

In the women’s keirin there was unexpected success for the home crowd. Elis Ligtlee, just 19 years old, already surprised herself and everyone else with a silver medal in the sprint on Saturday where she beat Kristina Vogel. In the keirin final she faced the German sprinter again. This time it was Ligtlee who launched her sprint at half a lap from the finish line and managed to keep Vogel behind her. France took another bronze medal with Virginie Cueff.

“Incredible that I can already do things like this. And that I can do that two days in a row, or actually three because on Friday I already was here for the team sprint,” Elis Ligtlee concluded tired but very happy.

Results