European track and field championships, two silver medals for Italy
Europeans on track, two silver medals for Italy
The balance of the Italian expedition at the European Track Cycling Championships in Heusden-Zolder rises to five medals. After the three gold medals won in recent days, Italy adds two silver medals with Martina Fidanza, second in the Km time trial, and Vittoria Guazzini, silver in the individual pursuit. Two trials that represent a novelty, since for the first time women competed in the sprint over 1 km and in the individual pursuit extended from 3 to 4 km.
KM TT – Martina Fidanza gives Italy its fourth medal at this continental event, taking silver in the kilometer steeplechase. The Italian completed the four laps of the track in a time of 1:05.969, which earned her second place. Ahead of her was only Hetty Van de Wouw, who signed an incredible performance, won gold and set a new world record. For Martina this is her third medal, after the golds won in the Scratch and the quartet pursuit.
Martina Fidanza: "The kilometer è a specialty è new for us women and it was the first time I tried it. We prepared mainly for the foursome and the scratch, but I knew it could fit my characteristics well. I am happy to have won second place in a European Championships. I did not expect to win three medals in this event, also because Ié came from a road race run just before the trip. The whole team, forò, è arrived here with good feelings, and I am satisfied with what we achieved".
INDIVIDUAL CHASE – Vittoria Guazzini won the second silver medal of the day, in the individual pursuit, adding another podium to the blue tally and bringing the total of medals for Italy to five. After an’excellent performance in qualifying, in the final she faces an Anna Morris in a state of grace. The Briton gets off to a strong start, imposes a high pace and lap after lap reduces the gap more and more, coming close to overtaking. Morris finishes the race with a time of 4:25:874, setting a new world record and securing the’gold. For Guazzini, silver remains a very valuable result, confirming the level of Italy in the international panorama of this discipline. The other Azzurra in the race, Martina Alzini, finished the test in 12th place.
Vittoria Guazzini: "A silver that satisfies me, I am happy to have brought it home. È the first time we face this new distance of 4 km, which for my characteristics è maybe a little bit more suitable. In qualifying I recorded a good time and I am proud of the run I did. Then I did not recover as well as I could for the final: Morris had another pace, so chapeau to her. Now head to tomorrow, we still have 120 laps of Madison to do".
OMNIUM – It doesn't go beyond seventh place for Elia Viviani, who closes the four rounds of the Omnium with a total of 109 points. Winning the European title è German Teutenberg, second Larsen and bronze for Philip Heijnen. In the Scratch, Tim Teutenberg finishes first, followed by Niklas Larsen and Ellande Larronde. Viviani finished 13th, starting the competition not in the easiest way. In the Tempo Race, Ilya Savekin maintains the accumulated lead and wins with 29 points. Teutenberg è second with 26, while Philip Heijnen takes third with 24. Viviani fights until the end and finishes fifth with 22, the same score as Belgian De Vylder, who però precedes him in the final sprint. There was an excellent performance in the Elimination, which the Italian finished second, behind German Teutenberg. In the closing Race to the Points Viviani tries taking even a lap but fails to reach the podium.
SPOT RACE – Closing out the evening was the Race to the Points, won by Norway’s Anita Yvonne Stenberg. Also on the podium were Marion Borras of France, second, and Maike van der Duin of the Netherlands, third. Martina Alzini, the only Italian in the race, finished in 15th place.
