Karl Herzog (Germany) won the men's junior road race at the 2025 UEC Road European Championships on Friday afternoon using a massive effort to catch and pass a 20km breakaway effort by Roberto Capello (Italy).
Capello's margin of nearly one minute was wiped away by the surging Herzog, who won by 13 seconds in Guilherand-Granges. David Gaffney (Ireland) was another 30 seconds back for the bronze medal. Seven other riders lost chances for a medal as they chased 13 seconds behind Gaffney, and others were more than another full minute back.
It was the first gold medal of this European Championships, so far, for Germany. The 16-year-old, who turns 17 in one month, was second at road nationals in June and 16th in the road race at Road World Championships in Rwanda. He showed Friday he was still in top form from his overall victory a month ago at Grand Prix Rüebliland in Switzerland.
The 103.4km route with a pair of circuits to the north and west of Guilherand-Granges. The junior men opened with a pair of passes on the tough Saint-Romain-des-Lerps climb (7.1km at 7%), followed by three climbs of the Val d'Enfer (1.5km at 10.5%) and twice up Montée de Costebelle (400 metres at 9.5%) for a flat finish. The final summit at Val d'Enfer left 6km to the finish.
Then on the shorter circuits with 35km to go, splits had formed, with Belgium getting two riders, Leader De Gendt and Seff Van Kerckhove, in an 11-rider lead bunch. David Gaffney (Ireland), Roberto Capello (Italy), Karl Herzog (Germany), Lindholm Møller Noah Andersen (Denmark), Javier Cubillas Salvador (Spain), Daan Dijkman (Netherlands), Tom Stirnimann (Switzerland), Soan Ruesche (France) and Jan Jackowiak (Poland) were also there, with just 10 seconds to chasers.
On the final circuit with 17km to go, Capello had cleared the lead group solo, with a 58-second advantage. In the chase, Edouard Claisse had tagged on to make it three riders for Belgium, Salvador no longer part of the chase.
But it was Germany's Herzog who made an acceleration from the chasers on the final kilometres, catching and passing the Italian for a career-defining victory.
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