10 months ago Elisa Balsamo became the new junior world champion after sprinting to the gold in Doha. 10 months later, the European Championships in Herning (Denmark) repeat that flat course formula, so everything points to a new massive sprint in which the wearer of the Euro jersey will be decided.
What can we expect from this race? Well, as usual, it’s an unpredictable competition for several reasons. For example: it’s the first road race of the Championships and the course could have some traps which remain unknown. And not all the riders are experienced in international competitions, despite the development of the UCI Nations Cup.
Buuuuut… Knowing how the Doha race was, we can at least know some of the names which will be fighting for the medals. But before that. what happened in last year’s Euro Champ?
Liane Lippert, unbeatable on Cadoudal
Germany’s Liane Lippert, who currently races for Team Sunweb, didn’t find any rival on the final climb to Côte de Cadoudal, where the podium spots were decided. During the race, a long breakaway in which Russia’s Mariia Novolodskaya was the only rider involved was the most interesting move. With only 20 riders in the head of the race at the bottom of Cadoudal, Lippert was the fastest climber ahead of Elisa Balsamo (Italy) and Sophie Wright (United Kingdom), silver and bronze.
The course
Let us upload a vectorized version of the profile of the race:
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Done.
Nothing seems to alterate flat roads in the 20 kilometers the circuit measures, in which junior women will do four laps.
The favorites
As you know, there are too many riders who can actually fight for the medals – even more in a flat course like this. Everything makes us think we will see a massive sprint, and for what we saw last year in Doha, we must highlight names like Emma Norsgaard (Denmark), bronze at the TT on Wednesday; or Letizia Paternoster (Italy), a rider we all should know perfectly.
One of the best sprinters in the junior field is Dutch Lorena Wiebes, winner of the Healthy Ageing Tour overall classification, the Trofeo da Moreno, a stage in Borsele… In a massive sprint a rider like Maria Martins (Portugal) can be also a candidate for the title, as well as Sweden’s Clara Lundmark, Luxembourg’s Anne-Sophie Harsch…
The members of the Spanish national team will be Sara Martín (road national champion), Isabel Martín, Maialen Aramendia and Sofía Rodríguez.
