The "Golden Girls" Emma Hinze, Lea Sophie Friedrich and Franziska Brauße could be relied upon, and Tim Torn Teutenberg, probably the greatest track talent in the German Cycling Federation (BDR), made his breakthrough.
European Track Cycling Championships 2023: German oval aces set the tone
However, the women's foursome, who won Olympic gold in Tokyo, did not quite keep up at the European Championships in Grenchen, Switzerland. Nevertheless, six months after the Munich Olympics, the German oval aces once again set the standard at the title fights in Switzerland. With seven gold, one silver and five bronze medals, the BDR crew won the national classification.
"That was a good start to the qualification series for the 2024 Olympic Games," said BDR Sports Director Patrick Moster. "We'll be doing even more intensive preparations over the next few months and trying a few things so that we can attack again towards the Olympics," said Lisa Klein from the Tokyo Gold Express. Bronze in Grenchen was still within reason. After all, the foursome had to cope with Lisa Brennauer's withdrawal and Laura Süßemilch had only just returned from a lengthy injury.
Brausse European champion in the single pursuit
As expected, world champion Brauße from Eningen also became European champion in the single pursuit. The German women's sprint trio of Hinze, Friedrich and Pauline Grabosch could be relied upon in the Swiss canton of Solothurn. After the setback at the 2022 World Championships, where the French snatched two out of four possible titles from the Germans, the Cottbus women once again set the standard. The titles in the team sprint, sprint and time trial went to Germany. On Sunday, Friedrich also secured the title in the Keirin sprint for the third time in a row, while Hinze finished third.
Kluge and Reinhardt defend title
In the so-called Madison, Berlin's Roger Kluge and Theo Reinhardt successfully defended their title from the previous year on Sunday. Giant talent Tim Torn Teutenberg from Cologne won a surprising gold medal in the elimination race. The situation is more complicated in the men's endurance events. Sixth place in the team pursuit was a disappointment despite a good time of 3:52.069 minutes - even Belgium finished ahead of the BDR quartet.
At the Nations Cups in Jakarta (23 to 26 February) and Cairo (14 to 17 March), where the next Olympic points will be awarded and also significantly more Olympic points than at the European Championships, strong nations from overseas such as Australia and New Zealand will join them. Ten teams will qualify for the Olympic Games in Paris, two more than in Tokyo.
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