Stefan Küng wins silver in the time trial at the European Championships in the Belgian province of Limburg. Just ten seconds short of his third European Championship title after 2020 and 2021.
Three days after his first victory at a Grand Tour, Küng only lived up to his role as favorite in the first section of the 31.2 km course. As the rain set in, he set the best split time, but was ultimately beaten by Italy's Edoardo Affini, who rode to gold with an improved run. Bronze went to Affini's compatriot Mattia Cattaneo.
Bissegger a long way behind
Stefan Bissegger did not get up to speed. The 25-year-old from Thurgau finished in 12th place, more than one and a half minutes behind. The 2022 European champion and last year's silver medal winner was the last to set off and had the worst conditions of all the riders at the start.
Eleven days before the World Championship time trial in Zurich, numerous top riders skipped the main World Championship rehearsal. Among others, the medal winners of the Olympic Games in Paris, Remco Evenepoel, Filippo Ganna and Wout van Aert as well as defending champion Joshua Tarling did not start.
Swiss women without a chance
In the women's race, Switzerland came away empty-handed in the absence of defending champion Marlen Reusser. Elena Hartmann and Noemi Rüegg clearly missed out on the medals. Hartmann finished in 14th place, three minutes behind. Noemi Rüegg finished in 16th place.
Lotte Kopecky was crowned the new European champion. After winning the Tour de Romandie, the Belgian showed a demonstration of power in her home country, beating Ellen van Dijk from the Netherlands into second place by 43 seconds. Bronze went to Austria's Christina Schweinberger.
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