France became European champion on home soil in the Mixed Relay. At the halfway point, Les Bleus were trailing the Italians, but the French women managed to turn the deficit into a lead. Italy had to settle for silver, while Switzerland (which suffered bad luck with a puncture for Stefan Küng) took the bronze.
The course for the European Championships Mixed Relay team time trial was different from the individual time trials because it required riding in a loop. The organizers laid out a 20-kilometer course that the men had to cover first, followed by the women. The first 14 kilometers were moderately rolling, followed by a relatively flat approach towards the final climb. That climb to the exchange zone and finish was 1.1 kilometers at 5.2% gradient.
Only seven countries competed in the Mixed Relay. The first block of three teams was made up of Estonia, Ukraine, and Luxembourg. The latter posted the best time at that point, but the strongest countries were yet to come. Switzerland led off the second block. They had a powerful men's trio with Jan Christen, Mauro Schmid, and Stefan Küng, but the latter quickly suffered mechanical trouble. After a fast changeover, his two teammates waited for him, but the red-and-white squad lost a significant amount of time because of the delay.
France-Italy Duel
The Swiss men were the fastest at the line, but their margin over Luxembourg was only four seconds. Germany wouldn’t approach this time and quickly ruled itself out of medal contention. That was still possible for the other two teams. The Italian men (Filippo Ganna, Lorenzo Milesi, and Marco Frigo) were by far the quickest. They put the French (Remi Cavagna, Bruno Armirail, and Thibault Guernalec) 23 seconds behind and the Swiss at 41 seconds.
The Italian men - photo: Cor Vos
The Swiss women had a strong trio as well with Marlen Reusser, Jasmin Liechti, and Noemi Rüegg and could possibly make up some time. At the first checkpoint, however, the French women (Cedrine Kerbaol, Juliette Labous, and Marion Borras) extended their lead over the Swiss. They also gained nine seconds on the Italians (Elena Cecchini, Vittoria Guazzini, Federica Venturelli), reducing the gap to 14 seconds. We now had a France-Italy duel!
Will the Italian women hold their ground?
At the next checkpoint, the French drew even closer. The gap had shrunk to six seconds, so everything was still possible in the final kilometers. This became even clearer at the foot of the last climb, where the two teams recorded exactly the same time. The climb to the finish line was set to decide the outcome.
The earlier trend continued here. Italy lost even more ground, allowing France to take the gold. The final gap between the two countries was seven seconds. Switzerland, finishing forty seconds behind France, claimed the bronze.
UEC Road European Championships Mixed Relay TTT| Rank | Rider | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 47:42 | |
| 2 | + 07 | |
| 3 | + 40 | |
| 4 | + 01:25 | |
| 5 | + 02:04 | |
| 6 | + 03:28 | |
| 7 | + 03:39 |
