European Cycling Championships 2023: Silver and bronze for German mixed relay teams

The three juniors Hannah Kunz, Pia Grünwald and Joelle Messemer only took over 7th place from Moritz Bell, Ian Kings and Louis Leidert. Or rather: only King and Leidert. Bell had crashed together with Leidert on the wet road and was unable to finish the race. Before that, Germany was still five seconds ahead of Italy on course for gold. Leidert, on the other hand, quickly picked himself up again, but crashed again a short time later.

>> Overview of all competitions at the 2023 European Cycling Championships

At the finish of the first lap after 19.2 kilometres, the boys were 33 seconds behind the Netherlands, who had been in the lead until then. But then the girls came and turned everything upside down. "I didn't tell them that they were far behind, that would only have unsettled them," said national coach Lucas Schädlich. And he did everything right. Kunz, Grünwald and Messemer quickly caught up one second after the other. At the turnaround, the latter was no longer able to follow the other two, but they also set an enormous pace with an average speed of more than 52 km/h

In the end, the German juniors set the fastest time - and overall, it was still enough for silver. "We have to be grateful to the girls for saving the day," said Leidert after hearing the good news. Kunz and Co. had only then learnt what had happened beforehand: "At the finish we were happy about our success and were then shocked when we found out what had happened to the boys," she reported.

Italy ultimately became European champions, 25 seconds ahead of Germany. Bronze went to France, 42 seconds behind, while the Dutch, who were leading at half-time, came away empty-handed. A total of eleven relay teams started.

European Cycling Championships 2023: Results mixed relay juniors

1. Italy 48:14 minutes
2. Germany +0:25
3. France +0:42
4. Netherlands +0:44
5. Belgium +0:53
6. Poland +0:44
7. Slovenia +1:41
8. Lithuania +2:37
9. Switzerland +2:56
10. Ukraine +3:38
11. Finland +3:38

The German motto: "Podium or crash"

In the elite category, it was the same nations that took the medals, just in a different order. France took the title, having finished second at the World Championships. This place was now taken by Italy ahead of Germany. The BDR team had already secured bronze at the World Championships.

The German men Miguel Heidemann, Jannik Steimle and Max Walscheid had set the third-best time after their 19.2 kilometre lap, but the Netherlands were only just over two seconds behind. Italy had initially set the fastest time, 20 seconds ahead of the French and 26 seconds ahead of the Germans. While Mieke Kröger, Franziska Koch and Lisa Klein lost just one second to the Dutch, who were strongly represented by Loes Adegeest, Riejanne Markus and Shirin van Anrooij, and thus secured bronze, the French really turned up the heat.

>> The German squad for the European Cycling Championships in Drenthe

Audrey Cordon-Ragot, Cedrine Kerbaol and Juliette Labous, who had already delivered a top time at the World Championships, gave Italy a run for their money and were a total of four seconds faster than the green-white-red team.

"I think we got the maximum out of it and gave it our all in the end," said Klein at the finish. "The final was tough, we risked everything, podium or crash. In the end, I'm glad that it was enough."

Without the individual time trial Stefan Küng, who fell heavily Switzerland was unable to match its gold medal performance at the World Championships and finished sixth out of just eight teams. However, they finished ahead of Belgium, who did not compete at the World Championships but did not send either their first or second guard.

European Cycling Championships 2023: Results mixed relay elite

1. France (Bruno Armirail, Remi Cavagna, Benjamin Thomas, Audrey Cordon-Ragot, Cedrine Kerbaol, Juliette Labous) 44:23 minutes
2. Italy (Edoardo Affini, Matteo Sobrero, Mattia Cattaneo, Elena Cecchini, Vittoria Guazzini, Soraya Paladin) +0:04
3. Germany (Miguel Heidemann, Jannik Steimle, Max Walscheid, Lisa Klein, Franziska Koch, Mieke Kröger)+0:23
4. Netherlands (Sjoerd Bax, Dan Hoole, Jos van Emden, Loes Adegeest, Riejanne Markus, Shirin van Anrooij) +0:24
5. Poland (Maciej Bodnar, Piotr Broznya, Michal Kwiatkowski, Katarzyna Niewiadoma, Marta Jaskulska, Karolina Kumiega) +0:39
6. Switzerland (Stefan Bissegger, Fabio Christen, Johan Jacobs, Elise Chabbey, Marlen Reusser, Nicole Koller) +0:57
7. Belgium (Siebe Deweirdt, Victor Vercouillie, Jelle Vermoote, Fauve Bastiaenessen, Valerie Demey, Sara Van De Vel) +3:46
8. Ukraine (Serhii Sydor, Dmytro Polupan, Yan Pastushenko, Maryna Altukhova, Yuliia Biriukova, Olha Kulynych) +4:34