It was a brutal elimination race on the Raid Evolenard course, which was made a little more challenging especially for the European Championships. The men had 78 km and 3900 vertical meters to conquer, while the women had 70 km and 3420 vertical meters. Nevertheless, they rode as if there was no tomorrow.

In the men's race, it was Samuele Porro in particular who tried to make the decisive difference with an early breakaway on the first climb. Having finished second in the European Championships twice in previous years, the Italian was determined to win the title this time. The Italian also risked everything on the descents because he knew that the stronger climber Andreas Seewald was hot on his heels. But on the second long climb to Béplan, the highest point of the course, the German was actually able to catch up with Seewald and leave the Italian standing. Over the remaining kilometers, he built up a lead of around five minutes, which he skilfully managed on the final ten-kilometer descent and rode to the title. Porro came second again ahead of the Czech Martin Stosek. Swiss champion Martin Fanger was the best Swiss skier, finishing in eighth place.

Seewald, who has a reputation for not being the best downhill skier, was satisfied that his tactics had worked: "I wanted to cause as much damage as possible on the uphill, i.e. bring about a pre-selection. I managed that quite well. But then I crashed twice on the downhill. I was just too nervous. But I was able to show my superiority on the second climb, which of course makes me happy."

"I tried everything and therefore don't have to blame myself. I pushed uphill and risked everything downhill. But Seewald was simply stronger. A medal is a medal," said Samuele Porro about his performance.

Third-placed Martin Stosek struggled with technical problems early on: "I couldn't shift gears properly. That caused me problems on this difficult course. But I'm happy for my team-mate Andreas Seewald that he was able to win. Third place is okay for me considering the problems."

Silver and bronze to Switzerland, gold in the heart too

In the women's race, Steffi Häberlin went on the hunt for the title with an early escape. But she also ran out of steam on the climb to Béplan. The Spaniard Natalia Fischer Esusquiza was able to overtake the Swiss champion. Häberlin took the silver medal and world champion Ramona Forchini bronze.

At the finish line, Fischer was overwhelmed by her emotions. Her great-grandfather came from Evoléne and then emigrated to Spain as a guest worker. So she is Swiss at heart, so to speak. The race went perfectly for her. She is delighted to have won the European title.

Steffi Häberlin's ambitions were thwarted by leg cramps on the final climb. She said: "I had never experienced this feeling before. It went really well on the first climb. My tactic was not to let anyone go. That's how I approached the race and I have no regrets. On the last climb, however, I died a thousand deaths. I had no chance of catching up with Fischer on the last descent. So I'm very happy with the silver medal."

"The second half of the race was a disaster for me. I had to hurry in the last downhill because Ariane Lüthi was closing the gap. Then I also crashed, but luckily I was able to continue," said Ramona Forchini, summing up her title fight. She had set out to win and had geared her tactics towards Katazina Sosna, who won the Dolomiti Hero last week. But she didn't have the best day and was therefore satisfied with her third place.

Results

Men: 1. Andreas Seewald (De) 4:02:50. 2. Samuele Porro (It) 4:06:47. 3. Martin Stosek (Tsch) 4:10:48. 4. Juri Ragnoli (It) 4:12:08. 5. Fabian Rabensteiner (It) 4:13:49. 6. Tiago Ferreira (Sp) 4:14:11. 7. Kristian Hynek (Tsch) 4:15:51. 8. Martin Fanger (Geneva) 4:18:28. 9. Marc Stutzmann (Belp) 4:19:15. 10. Frans Claes (Be) 4:19:49.

Women: 1. Natalia Fischer Egsquisa (Sp) 4:05:16.2. Steffi Häberlin (Happerswil) 4:10:27. 3. Ramona Forchini (Wattwil) 4:12:42. 4. Ariane Lüthi (Spiez) 4:13:06. 5. Katazina Sosna (Lit) 4:22:50. 6. Adelheid Morath (De) 4:23:44. 7. Costanza Fasolis (It) 4:27:09. 8. Angelika Tazreiter (Ö) 4:27:33. 9. Estelle Morel (Fr) 4:27:57. 10. Janine Schneider (De) 4:29:43.