After being vice-champion in the time trial last Friday, France’s Eglantine Rayer won today the gold medal in the road race at the European Road Championships in Anadia.
The road races of the European Road Championships started today in Anadia with the junior women’s race. The riders had to cover a total of 83.1 kilometres, corresponding to four laps of the circuit. The peloton was compact at the first crossing of the finish line, with some riders starting to lose contact.
The race situation continued during the second lap of the circuit, with the peloton remaining compact and some more athletes giving in to the effort and high temperatures that were felt throughout the race.
It was after the third lap that the peloton started to break up, splitting into two small groups. In the last lap, both groups split even more, with three athletes coming out alone at the start of the last climb towards the finish line.
The race was eventually decided in the sprint, with France’s Eglantine Rayer getting the better of her opponents to take the under-19 European cross-country title.
Italian Eleonora Ciabocco and Federica Venturelli finished second and third, respectively. Ciabocco finished with the same time as the winner to take the silver medal, and Venturelli finished two seconds faster than Rayer to take the bronze.
