At the end of the European Championships in Darfo Boario Terme, Italy, Florian Vogel lands the coup and brings Switzerland its seventh medal. Vogel defeats defending champion Julien Absalon from France by ten seconds and the German Manuel Fumic by 40 seconds in a race that is open until the end.

Florian Vogel is in the medal ranks over the entire distance. However, it is he who makes the mistake that allows the Frenchman Stephane Tempier to go solo. "I rode for Mathias (Flückiger) at first because I felt the responsibility after my mistake. But at some point I realized that I was the strongest on the mountain," said Vogel, giving an insight into this situation.The chasing group breaks up, Mathias Flückiger can no longer keep up and it is Vogel who sets off in pursuit 30 seconds behind Tempier. This cost the French riders Titouan Carod and Jordan Sarrou the connection. Tempier, riding for the Italian Bianchi team, slowly shows signs of weakness with three laps to go, but Spaniard David Valero comes from behind. Two laps before the end, he passes Vogel and also overtakes Tempier on the climb.

Valero pulled away a little, but the Iberian then suffered a serious gear failure on the descent. This reopened the race for the title. Vogel catches up with Tempier and leaves the Frenchman behind. But his compatriot Julien Absalon has started a race to catch up and enters the climb only ten seconds behind Vogel. A difference of four seconds is reported at the top, but Vogel holds his nerve even with the mountain bike legend breathing down his neck and takes his second European title after 2008 in St. Wendel.

"I had the confidence from the last few races, in which I got stronger and stronger at the end. It used to be different, but I've changed my style in the meantime," said Vogel. "But it would also have been a good race for me if Absalon had overtaken me. I had no pressure." So he also calls the title "very significant" for him, also because it shows that he can offer world-class performances for over a decade. "My season is pretty much saved," he said with a grin.

Behind him, Manuel Fumic keeps the Italian Daniele Braidot at bay and wins bronze. The other Swiss were unable to keep up in temperatures of over 30 degrees. Lukas Flückiger finished eleventh (+2:28), 20 seconds ahead of Marcel Guerrini (+2:48), who finished twelfth. "It's not totally disappointing, but I'm not satisfied either. I had a better feeling beforehand," says Flückiger. "But well, the feeling is always difficult to assess. I trained hard after the Swiss Championships, but my legs weren't bad either."

For Marcel Guerrini, the result was, from his point of view, "what I can do." He managed the race well and improved from 15th to 12th position in the second half of the race. "I suffered like a pig in the heat, but I probably got the best out of it."

Andri Frischknecht finished in 14th place

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