The 2017 edition of the the Juniors and Under 23 track European Championships finished yesterday evening at the Sangalhos Velodrome – Anadia (Portugal). 385 athletes took part, 25 countries were represented and 44 titles were awarded.
Italy came top of the table with 10 gold medals, 1 silver and 3 bronzes ahead of Russia (7 gold medals, 7 silver and 6 bronzes) and Great Britain (7 gold medals, 6 silver and 11 bronzes).
The great stars of this edition of the European Track Championships were without doubt the Junior riders Letizia Paternoster (Italy) and Mathilde Gros (France). The first won five gold medals with an excellent performance in every event that she competed in (individual pursuit, team pursuit, madison, elimination and omnium) meanwhile the second won the sprint, 500 metres and the keirin, gaining second place in the team sprint for the Under 23s.
Three medals but not gold for the World Road Champion, Amalie Dideriksen (Denmark). Silver medal in the points race and bronze in the omnium and scratch.
In the qualifications for the individual pursuit, Letizia Paternoster obtained a new world record: 2’20”927, by beating by more than one second the previous record that the Lithuanian rider, Olivlia Baleisyte achieved in Montichiari in 2016.
In the Men’s events, an excellent result in the Under 23s for the British rider, Mark Stewart, gold medal in the omnium and individual pursuit and for the Dane, Niklas Larsen first in the points race, silver in the scratch and ominium. In the youngest category, the Russian trio, Dmitry Nesterov, Daniil Komkov and Pavel Rostov, obtained a new world record in the team sprint: 44”460.
David Lappartient, President of the Union Européenne de Cyclisme: «The Juniors and Under 23 Track European Championships has always been an interesting and exciting event, and this year we have witnessed this in the modern velodrome of Sangalhos-Anadia, Portugal. For six days, young women and men who represent the present but also the future of Track cycling raced against each other in very high level technical races in which two new world records were achieved. The level of participation was one of the highest of the last few years and the media’s huge interest in these Championships proves that track is undoubtedly a current and fascinating discipline.»
Results – click here
