Cycling: In the Dutch town of 's-Hertogenbosch, the local fans were able to celebrate numerous medals today. The Dutch celebrated in four out of five competitions. Mathieu Van der Poel won the eagerly awaited duel among the elite men ahead of his opponent Wout Van Aert.
Among the women, only the Dutch cheer
The dominance of Dutch cross cycling was impressively displayed in the women's competitions today. Both the U23 and the elite women all medals went to the local riders. Ceylin del Carmen left her compatriots Inge van der Heijden and Fleur Nagengast behind before Annemarie Worst triumphed ahead of Marianne Vos and Denise Betsema. The best German in the U23 class was Clea Seidel on #22 and Stefanie Paul on #21 among the elite women.
Annemarie Worst:
"I can not believe it. It was such a tough race. I took the lead with two laps to go so I could drive my own line. Suddenly I had a head start. I liked the course, it was very fast.”
Mathieu Van der Poel confidently defends his title
The only non-Dutch gold medal went to Briton Thomas Pidcock in the men's U23 class. Belgian defending champion Eli Iserbyt and Frenchman Antoine Benoist ensured that the local heroes from the Netherlands went completely empty-handed. The juniors were different. Pim Ronhaar left the two Belgians Witse Meeussen and Thibau Nys behind. The eagerly awaited duel in the elite men also went to the Netherlands. Mathieu Van der Poel was able to outpace his fiercest opponents, Wout Van Aert and his Belgian compatriot Laurens Sweeck, in the usual confident manner. He defended his European Championship title with a lead of 14 and 18 seconds respectively.
| Competition: | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| men elite | Van der Poel | Van Aert | Sweeck |
| women elite | Meat | Your | Betsema |
| Men U23 | pidcock | iserbyt | benoist |
| Women U23 | Del Carmen Alvarado | Van der Heijden | gnawing guest |
| Juniors | Ronhair | Meussen | NYS |