Europe already has its first continental time trial champions. This Sunday the European Cycling Union (UEC) has organized this new championship that has crowned the first champions the Austrian Felix Grossschartner and the British Illi Gardner among others.
Grossschartner, 29 years old and a key player for Tadej Pogacar in the UAE Emirates, completed the 12.8 kilometers of ascent at 7% in a time of 35:40 and an average of 21.5 km/h, leading the Italian Mattia Gaffuri, who took silver, by 49 seconds, and the French Arthur Blanc by 1:43.
Grossschartner himself, who already has stages in the Tour of Burgos, the Tour of the Alps and stage and the general of the Tour of Turkey, celebrated this new victory in this way in statements collected by the UAE Emirates. “I am very happy to be the first European champion in this discipline. It’s a spectacular climb on the cobbles and I’m happy it’s still performing well after the Tour de France. I hope that in the future this race can grow and get bigger and bigger, but I am proud to be the first winner.”
In the women’s category, the title went to the critic Illi Gardner, a regular cyclist who wins the QOM on Strava in some of the most outstanding climbs in road cyclingand who completed the 12.8 kilometer climb in 44:26 to beat the Austrians Anna Plattner and the Olympic champion Anna Kiesenhofer.
The first European Time Trial Championship also left us another example of Jan Christen’s potential. The 19-year-old Swiss cyclist who is already tied to the UAE Emirates for next season, he took victory in the sub-23 men’s category with a time of 36:27… which would have earned him a silver medal in the absolute men’s time trial.