Lakata and Süss win gold at European marathon championships

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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.

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"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