The weather for the first UEC European Mountain Bike Enduro Championships was probably better. Snowfall at higher altitudes on Saturday and heavy rain below turned the race courses into muddy tracks. The race day on Sunday also started with a little precipitation, but it quickly cleared and made the ground really sticky.

French rider Jérome Clementz coped best with these conditions. As the first winner of the 2013 Enduro World Series and the first World Series race of the current season, he was already considered the top favorite. The nimble Frenchman withstood this pressure and made history once again. Now as the very first European champion in the Enduro discipline. Behind Clementz, Rémy Absalon takes the silver medal and is unable to intervene in the gold medal fight. Just one second behind him, however, the Slovenian Vid Persak surprises in third place.

The best Swiss skier, Stefan Peter, finished in 13th place. René Wildhaber finished second overall, but had to start in the Masters +30 category due to his license. He rides to an unchallenged victory there and is very happy about it. "In the elite it would be silver, but here it's gold. Even if it's not in the highest category, in the end I get more out of the European title than a silver medal," says a delighted Wildhaber, who last won silver at the European Downhill Championships in 1999.

The second Swiss gold medal was won by Remo Heutschi. Already at the forefront of the Masters category throughout the season, he once again left nothing to be desired today in the Masters +40 and took the European title by a clear margin.First medal for Gehrig
As expected, it was Anneke Beerten who took the women's European title. The Dutchwoman is no unknown quantity, as she has already won the 4x world championship twice and has been one of the best women in the enduro circuit since the start of the Enduro World Series. However, German newcomer Raphaela Richter is hot on her heels in the race. She remained in second place until the final downhill stage. However, Anita Gehrig turned up the heat on the long final stage and pushed Richter into bronze.

For Gehrig, it was the first medal of her young career, even though it didn't look like it for a long time. "I had a bad start to the race and lost a lot of time at some corners. But then I really turned up the heat on the last stage and made up over a minute. The fact that it was enough for silver is amazing," says Gehrig. Carolin Gehrig finishes the first European Championships in fifth place. She also really turns up the heat on the long final stage and makes up a few places thanks to the third-best time. Antje Kramer takes the gold medal in the Women's Masters category and immediately retires from racing. Kramer had previously shaped the German women's downhill scene for years. Silver and bronze go to Daniela Michel and Eva Carrer in Switzerland. Michel can even win a downhill stage for herself.

A total of 198 riders from 18 nations will be competing in the first ever official UEC Mountain Bike Enduro European Championships. The muddy downhill stages demand everything from the participants and challenge the organizers in equal measure. Even if some things don't quite run like clockwork, the majority of the riders are positive about the first European Enduro Championships. The mode of one training day and one race day is also very much welcomed, as this keeps the time expenditure within limits and still creates a better level playing field.
The only disappointment on the part of the riders is that more top athletes have not found their way to Kirchberg. But it is also disappointing that other major enduro races, such as the Trans-Provence or the Coupe de France Enduro, have to take place during the same time, which means that all events are missing out on good riders.

The European Championships will certainly continue to exist in this young and up-and-coming cycling discipline. It is not yet known where they will be held next - perhaps in Switzerland? No matter where, we can only hope that all the top European enduro riders will be at the start line in the future.

Ranking list European Enduro Championships Kirchberg/AUT

www.europeanenduroseries.com