NEWS

Great memories and record breaking numbers in Kitzbuhel

By David Peddie | 19 Jun, 2014

by Hans Cleemput

Kitzbühel is getting ready for what’s becoming the biggest summer event in history for the lovely City in the Austrian Alps. With a record breaking number of participants we are in for three days full of exciting races, starting Friday morning with the Age Group Sprint Championships and finishing off on Sunday with the Mixed Team Relay race. Hundreds of athletes from all over Europe took part in the opening ceremony on Thursday evening in the city centre of Kitzbühel. Team GB was again on top of the list with almost 600 athletes, but the Germans, the Swiss and the big delegation from Austria filled the crowded streets as well. And we were happy to see athletes from Lithuania, Malta and Turkey among others celebrating the opening ceremony.

Nicola Spirig: „Happy to be back”

Prior to the parade of nations we had the chance to catch up with some race favorites for the elite European championships. Nicola Spirig was all smiles when we asked her about her expectations. The Olympic champion took a break from triathlon in 2013 to become a mom. „This will be my first big elite race of the season for me and I don’t really know what to expect. I am feeling well, but I can’t predict how my swim and run will be. But I love this course and I love racing here.I have great memories of Kitzbühel. It’s the Europeans and that’s always something special to me, so I will give it my best shot. The only thing is, I don’t know most of these young girls competing anymore. Looks like a new generation is ready to take over, but I won’t go down without a fight”, the Swiss athlete told us.

Rachel Klamer is the defending champion but her ambitions are not at podium level on Friday. „I don’t expect to be as strong as last year. My winter didn’t go as planned and all of my races this season have not been that good. I hope I will do better here in Kitzbühel. I have trained well the last few weeks, but I am expecting a strong field with some fast runners. The ideal scenario for me would be a breakaway on the bike”, said the reigning European champion.

After a bronze medal in the Chengdu ITU world cup race and a 6th place finish in the WTS Yokohama, Claire Michel could become one of the outsiders for the podium in Kitzbühel. The Belgian athlete is quite new to triathlon and these are her very first European championships. „I should be aiming for a top-8 finish but I will be happy if I reach the top-15. This looks like a strong field and a lot will depend on the swim. I hope I can close the gap and start to run with the lead pack. That would increase my chances. This is my first time at the Europeans and although I feel good, I do not know what to expect from it. It won’t be easy, after a hard period of studying for my exams,” says Claire.

The Elite women race starts at 3 PM CET and will be streamed live here

Related Event: 2014 Kitzbühel ETU Triathlon European Championships
20 - Jun, 2014 • event pageall results
Results: Elite Men
1. Alistair Brownlee GBR 01:54:08
2. Dmitry Polyanskiy RUS 01:54:35
3. Vicente Hernandez ESP 01:54:39
4. Fernando Alarza ESP 01:54:54
5. Alexander Bryukhankov RUS 01:55:07
6. David McNamee GBR 01:55:17
7. Alessandro Fabian ITA 01:55:25
8. Ivan Tutukin KAZ 01:55:36
9. Justus Nieschlag GER 01:55:45
10. Matthew Sharp GBR 01:55:48
Results: Elite Women
1. Nicola Spirig SUI 02:10:24
2. Sophia Saller GER 02:10:40
3. Annamaria Mazzetti ITA 02:10:58
4. Hanna Philippin GER 02:11:16
5. Lois Rosindale GBR 02:11:35
6. Rachel Klamer NED 02:11:47
7. Charlotte Bonin ITA 02:11:53
8. Elena Danilova RUS 02:11:54
9. Sara Vilic AUT 02:11:57
10. Mateja Šimic SLO 02:12:00
Results: Junior Men
1. Raphael Montoya FRA 00:57:43
2. Antonio Serrat Seoane ESP 00:57:47
3. Maxime Hueber-Moosbrugger FRA 00:57:53
4. Lasse Lührs GER 00:58:16
5. Bence Bicsák HUN 00:58:22
6. Jorik Van Egdom NED 00:58:24
7. Léo Bergere FRA 00:58:28
8. Lucas Jacolin FRA 00:58:30
9. Jonathan Wayaffe BEL 00:58:33
10. Ron Lewinsohn ISR 00:58:35
Results: Junior Women
1. Laura Lindemann GER 01:03:14
2. Audrey Merle FRA 01:03:19
3. Cassandre Beaugrand FRA 01:03:29
4. Ditte Kristensen DEN 01:04:22
5. Carmen Gomez Cortes ESP 01:04:42
6. Sophie Coldwell GBR 01:04:54
7. Angelica Olmo ITA 01:05:11
8. Therese Feuersinger AUT 01:05:23
9. Flóra Bicsák HUN 01:05:54
10. Lena Meißner GER 01:06:04
Results: 16-19 Female AG Sprint
1. Hannah Moser AUT 01:15:21
2. Lisa Totschnig AUT 01:16:32
3. Rosie Lindsay GBR 01:19:11
4. Emily Alderson GBR 01:19:53
5. Mona Ritter AUT 01:21:15
6. Sina Hinteregger AUT 01:21:59
7. Vivien Ploner AUT 01:23:53
8. Clover Murray GBR 01:24:37
9. Chanette Rog AUT 01:26:54
10. Carolina Sandhofer AUT 01:29:53
Results: 16-19 Male AG Sprint
1. Tom Stead GBR 01:05:12
2. Marcel Pachteu AUT 01:05:36
3. Tautvydas Kopustas LTU 01:05:40
4. Michael Singer AUT 01:07:01
5. Massimo Köstl AUT 01:07:41
6. Angus Smith GBR 01:08:02
7. Fergus Robinson GBR 01:08:09
8. Sean Wylie GBR 01:08:13
9. Julian Höllmüller AUT 01:08:49
10. Christopher Davies GBR 01:09:07
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