Unfortunately, however, fate, as often happens in cycling, intervened, denying Valentina Corvi, who dominated this season's U23s, the chance to defend her title from last year. Juri Zanotti, however, brought Italy their third medal of the expedition, another silver, in the elite race. In the women's race, however, the best Italian placing was Giada Specia, twelfth.
Source: FCI press release
The men's race really kicks into high gear in the second half, when a quartet of riders breaks away. They include the top three finishers and the perennial Mathias Flückiger. About ten seconds behind, Filippo Fontana tries to catch up, but fails. With one lap to go, Zanotti pushes the pace, forcing Fabio Püntener to lose ground. The battle seems to be narrowing to just three riders. Flückiger punctures near the technical zone, a setback that knocks him out of contention for the win. At the start of the final lap, Charlie Aldridge pushes the pace and sprints toward his second personal title of the event, after his short track title. Filippo Fontana takes an excellent fifth place, 50 seconds behind.
ELITE WOMEN – Sina Frei won the European XCO elite title by dominating the race and finishing in 1:26:17, 1:26 ahead of compatriot Alessandra Keller. Sweden's Jenny Rissveds took third place on the podium, while Switzerland placed four athletes in the top six. For Italy, Giada Specia she is twelfth at 7'51”, while Sara Cortinovis finishes twenty-fifth.
WOMEN U23 Valentina Corvi started with the best intentions and immediately pushed the pace, clearly intent on undermining her opponents, but a puncture on the second lap, far from the technical zone, irreparably compromised her race. The Italian lost almost a minute to Anina Hutter and steadily slipped to fifth place. From then on, her comeback began: at the end of the fifth lap, she was just five seconds away from the bronze medal. On the final lap, she found the strength to overtake Monique Halter and finish fourth, while Elina Benoit set the fastest final lap and thus saved third place by 15 seconds. A team victory for Switzerland, with Anina Hutter, Fiona Schibler, and Elina Benoit taking the top three spots.
FINAL MEDAL TABLE The hosts dominate the medal table with six titles, followed by France and Great Britain. Italy is sixth, behind Germany and the Czech Republic with three silver medals.
STANDINGS
Elite Women
1pcs. Sina Frei: 1:26:17
2nd. Alessandra Keller: 1:27:43 // +1:26
3rd. Jenny Rissveds: 1:28:21 // +2:04
4th Nicole Koller: 1:29:14 // +2:57
5th Evie Richards: 1:29:32 // +3:15
Elite Men
1pcs. Charlie Aldridge: 1:25:27
2nd. Juri Zanotti: 1:25:39 // +12
3rd. Fabio Püntener: 1:25:57 // +30
4th Mathias Flückiger: 1:26:13 // +46
5th Filippo Fontana: 1:26:18 // +51
U23 Women
1pcs. Anina Hutter: 1:17:08
2nd. Fiona Schibler: 1:18:12 // +1:04
3rd. Elina Benoit: 1:18:28 // +1:20
4th Valentina Corvi: 1:18:43 // +1:35
5th Monique Halter: 1:19:04 // +1:56
U23 Men
1pcs. Alix Andre Gallis: 1:15:59
2nd. Naël Rouffiac: 1:16:19 // +20
3rd. Sivert Ekroll: 1:16:48 // +49
4th Paul Schehl: 1:17:00 // +1:01
5th Rens Teunissen Van Manen: 1:18:26 // +2:27
