U23 individual time trial: European Championship silver for Antonia Niedermaier

Around six weeks after her World Championship title in the individual time trial, Antonia Niedermaier won silver in the U23 class at the European Road Cycling Championships.

The 20-year-old was only beaten by Britain's Zoe Backstedt after 20.6 kilometres at the title fights in Drenthe in the Netherlands. Niedermaier was 58 seconds behind at the finish in Emmen after the battle against the clock.

In contrast, there were no medals for the German starters in the women's individual time trial. Katharina Fox and Lisa Klein finished eleventh and twelfth respectively. Switzerland's Marlen Reusser secured the title over the 29.5-kilometre distance ahead of Great Britain's Anna Henderson and Christina Schweinberger from Austria. In addition to Niedermaier, Hannah Kunz secured another German medal with bronze in the junior women's race.

"The course didn't really suit me at all, I prefer it more hilly. It was a big challenge mentally, you just had to push the pace," said lightweight Niedermaier, who had a lot of problems with the wind. However, it has been an outstanding season for the Rosenheim-born athlete. In addition to her successes in the national jersey, she also won the queen stage of the Giro d'Italia in July.

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