Italy consoles itself with the wooden medal of Rial from Piacenza and Brescia Signorelli.
The Ciocco estate, in Tuscany, has always been the scene of great "firsts". First MTB World Championship in Europe and second in history, first Marathon Master World Championship, first Italian E-mtb Championship, first Italian Pump Track Championship, and now the absolute "premiere" of the Short Track of the European Youth Championship.
Source: press release
Interesting races, today in the Tuscan town, and a nervous track with 10' and one lap for each category (U15 and U17) for both men and women for the Short Track race.
It was the youngest who opened the morning and immediately there was a waving of Red Cross flags. Shana Huber and Marwan Karim Barhoumi are today's first two gold medalists for Switzerland, and also from the same sports club (The Swiss Crew). Then in the afternoon among the U17s new Swiss gold with Anja Grossmann and a battle with a final rush by the Austrians Valentin Hofer and Anatol Friedl, with the Italians forced to settle for a few placements.
The day was inaugurated by the 45 U15 girls, protagonists of a truly eventful challenge. At the first pass, a trio was immediately formed made up of the Austrian Johanna Piringer, the Swiss Shana Huber and the Czech Klotylda Slukovà, while they were chasing Nynke Jochems and Justyna Novotnà at a short distance. The three pacesetters continued the ride by parading with great determination together also in the second lap, while Mariachiara Signorelli from Brescia showed off in fourth position. At the sound of the bell, Huber gives a jolt and shakes off Piringer and Slukovà. By now the three were competing for the podium studying themselves for the grand finale.
With a time of 19'27” the Swiss Huber made history by winning the first European XCC jersey, beating the Austrian Piringer by 8” and the Czech Slukovà by 20”. The Italian Signorelli gave her all to close the gap, and at the finish she finished with a good 4th place, while the South Tyrolean Sophie Messmer finished 8th.
Immediately afterwards the males darted off, with a very controlled first pass. The Belgian Lars Peers took the lead in the second lap, closely followed by the Swiss Marwan Karim Barhoumi, the Czech Samuel Mucha and the Swiss Yanis Berthoud. The third lap was decisive with the action proposed by the Belgian-Swiss couple Peers and Barhoumi, who took advantage of Berthoud and Wagenstetter. The first blue Walter Vaglio (Borbonica Cup) lit the gas in the final part of the race, going up at great speed. Great party for The Swiss Crew, who after the women's victory granted themselves an encore among the men thanks to the final sprint scored by Marwan Karim Barhoumi. Arms raised after 17'10” of powerful pushes for Barhoumi, already XCO 2022 European champion, with the Belgian Peers to conquer the silver and the Swiss Berthoud to complete the podium. Walter Vaglio, best blue, managed to recover by taking home the fifth place in the final.
The tension at Tenuta Il Ciocco then rises for the U17 category, with the women opening the afternoon session of competitions. The strongest climbed immediately under the first pass, including the Swede Elinore Nilsson, the Czechs Lucie Grohovà and Amàlie Gottwaldovà and the Swiss Anja Grossmann. On the second lap, Grossmann, the number one favourite, pulled away with the duo Grohovà and Nilsson trying to close the gap. The Swiss showed determination to spare and in the last lap she paraded again in the lead with Grohovà and Šerkezi, the latter author of a great comeback, battling for the podium. Endless smiles on arrival for Anja Grossmann, the undisputed protagonist of the day, who proudly went to take the prestigious European jersey with a time of 17'53”, ahead of the Czech Grohovà and the fierce Slovenian Šerkezi, excellent at third place. Too bad for the favorite of the house Elisa Ferri, who fell right on the most beautiful moment during the last lap and finished 25th. The Aosta Valley Sofia Guichardaz was the best Italian, in 12th place.
U17 men's competition with successive twists and turns. Ready, set, go and the Lombard Federico Rosario Brafa, one of the favorites who started in the front row of the grid, is immediately out with the chain knocked out. Everyone wanted to reach the top positions and the group appeared frayed right from the first lap, led by the Austrian Valentin Hofer.
Change of guard on the second lap, when compatriot Anatol Friedl took over the lead. Austria also dominated the scene on the third lap with Hofer and Friedl playing 'teamwork', while the fight for third place remained open with Elia Rial from Piacenza 20” behind, followed by the German Elijah Witzack and the Lombard Mario Campana. Final sprint at the photo finish between the two Austrians, with Valentin Hofer getting the better of his teammate Anatol Friedl by a few centimetres. But the adrenaline remained high for the second sprint which awarded the bronze medal, this time between the Czech Kryštof Bažant and the blue Elia Rial. The Czech managed to put his wheels ahead of Rial, who thus narrowly slipped off the podium resulting in the best Italian, with the Lombard Mario Campana completing the top 5.
Tomorrow is the penultimate day of racing with the eagerly awaited Cross Country Olympic XCO race for the U15 category starting at 10am.
Short Track XCC – U15 men
1 Barhoumi Karim Marwan (Sui) The Swiss Crew 17:10.940; 2 Peers Lars (Bel) Lml Racing Team 17:16.749; 3 Berthoud Yanis (Sui) Feloyan Swiss 17:27.842; 4 Wagenstetter Maximilian (Ger) Team Sbw Germany 17:28.835; 5 Vaglio Walter (Ita) Bourbon Cup Exo1 17:34.313; 6 Mucha Samuel (Cze) Czech National Team U15 B 17:34.707; 7 Rada Vojtěch (Cze) Czech National Team U15 At 17:38.247; 8 Nielsen Hermann Anton (Den) Den U15 17:53.049; 9 Freuis Paul (Aut) Austria 1 U15 17:54.466; 10 Kalsbeek Rens (Ned) Netherlands 17:57.264
Short Track XCC – U15 women
1 Huber Shana (Sui) The Swiss Crew 19:27.451; 2 Piringer Johanna (Aut) Austria 1 U15 19:34.845; 3 Sluková Klotylda (Cze) Czech National Team U15 A 19:46.576; 4 Signorelli Mariachiara (Ita) Lombardy B 19:58.717; 5 Pirog Natalia (Pol) Polska 20:34.247; 6 Temar Lilly (Swe) Sweden Loh 20:35.165; 7 Novotná Justýna (Cze) Czech National Team U15 B 20:59.921; 8 Messmer Sophie (Ita) Bolzano U15 21:00.223; 9 Strittmatter Maxi (Ger) South West Germany 6 21:01.461; 10 Plattner Jael (Sui) Tropical Jml 21:07.158
Short Track XCC – U17 men
1 Hofer Valentin (Aut) Austria 1 U17 16:11.316; 2 Friedl Anatol (Aut) Austria 1 U17 16:11.349; 3 Bažant Kryštof (Cze) Czech National Team U17 A 16:34.926; 4 Rial Elia (Ita) Gagabike Team 1 16:35.894; 5 Campana Mario (Ita) Lombardy 2 16:38.641; 6 Witzack Elijah (Ger) South West Germany 1 16:40.259; 7 Hankus Piotr (Pol) Polish National Team 1 16:43.968; 8 Schnyder Noah (Sui) Team Tln Swiss 16:44.938; 9 Jagt Caden (Ned) Bar-End Ghost Nl 16:45.748; 10 Bakelaar Daan (Ned) Bar-End Ghost 16:45.996
Short Track XCC – U17 women
1 Grossmann Anja (Sui) Specialized Junior Racing Team Switzerland 17:53.150; 2 Grohová Lucie (Cze) Czech National Team U17 At 18:12.299; 3 Šerkezi Maruša Tereza (Slo) Slovenia 1 18:31.490; 4 Grangl Antonia (Aut) Austria 1 U17 18:44.038; 5 Gottwaldová Amálie (Cze) Czech National Team U17 B 18:47.178; 6 Nilsson Elinore (Swe) Allebike Sverige 19:03.001; 7 Terpin Eva (Slo) Slovenia 2 19:08.216; 8 Tschumi Chloe (Sui) Its Swiss 19:38.630; 9 Bradáčová Nikola (Cze) Act Lerak 19:39.789; 10 Tancik Meta (Slo) Slovenia 2 19:41.232
