Bronze medal for Julie de Wilde in the U23 Individual Time Trial at the World Championships
“A bronze medal feels so good after a year with more downs then ups!”, wrote Julie de Wilde on an Instagram post after taking the third place in Individual Time Trial at the World Championships in the U23 category.
The Belgian rider completed the 29.9 km-long Swiss course from Gossau to Zürich in 42 minutes and 37 seconds.
“I want to thank my team, the national team, and everybody who’s close to me for keeping the confidence. This performance gives me some extra motivation for this week to go all-in another time!”, said de Wilde.
She will be competing again on Saturday September 28, when she will represent Belgium in the World Championships Road Race.
First-ever Podium for Marion Norbert-Riberolle and Belgium in the European Championships Mixed Relay
Belgium won its first-ever medal in the team time trial mixed relay at the 2024 European Championships with a third-place finish. And FENIX-Deceuninck rider Marion Norbert-Riberolle is one of the six riders who made it possible.
The mixed relay is one the lesser-known road events. It was introduced for the first time in 2019 for both World and European Championships. Each competing country has a team of six riders, three men and three women which will take turns to do a part of the course. The time recorded is the sum of the one done by the men and the women riders.
The Belgian men’s trio was composed by Edward Theuns, Noah Vandenbranden, and Victor Vercouillie, while the women’s were Alana Castrique, Jesse Vandenbulcke and Norbert-Riberolle. They finished third behind Italy and Germany, which won the gold and the silver, medals.
Christina Schweinberger Takes bronze at European Time Trial Championships
Austrian Christina Schweinberger won the bronze medal in the individual time trial at the 2024 European Championships in Hasselt, Belgium. The FENIX-Deceuninck rider completed the 31.2 km course in 40 minutes and 2 seconds.
“It feels good. This year wasn’t going so smooth, so I’m really happy with the podium finish. I was a bit nervous before starting but it was also a good motivation. Lotte (Kopecky) was unbeatable, I knew that before, but I gave my best and I’m happy to have gotten the medal,” said Schweinberger in a post-race interview.
“I think I started a bit fast. I invested more at the beginning, maybe too much, so I lost a bit in the end. In the last kilometer, it was full on head wind, and it felt never-ending. But compared with other ITTs of that length like Glassgow last year, it passed much faster. It a was a good course and I’m happy.”
The European Championships ITT was won by Lotte Kopecky (Belgium) while Ellen van Dijk (Netherlands) took the silver.
Schweinberger is now looking forward to the Road World Championships, which will take place in Zurich, Switzerland from September 21st until 29th. The Austrian rider is expected to compete in both the ITT and the road races.
Puck Pieterse is the 2024 MTB World Champion!
Puck Pieterse made history on Sunday as she won her first elite MTB World Championships, becoming the first Dutch woman to ever win the rainbow jersey in a XCO event.
“I cannot comprehend it yet! I wrote at my own pace from the start, and I thought ‘I need to go all in if I want to win this’. I kept pushing and apparently it was enough. My first elite world title, and I’m just so happy,” said Puck in a post race interview.
The 22-year-old rider dominated from the start the Olympic Cross-country race, crossing the finish line with a lead of 59-second ahead of her Dutch teammate Anne Terpstra and Italian Martina Berta. The 4-km course in Pal Arinsal, Andorra, required five laps that she completed in one hour, nine minutes and forty-one seconds.
Puck adds this victory to an already impressive season, in which she won the European mountain bike title and three World Cup races. It also follows the disappointment at the Paris Olympic games where she missed the podium after a puncture two laps before the finish.
