CROSS-CROSSING – David Haverdings (21) won silver at the European Championships for U23s this afternoon in the dunes of the Belgian coastal town of Middelkerke. He rode attentively from the front throughout the race, but had to bow his head in the final to the only 18-year-old Italian Mattia Agostinacchio. He pulled away from the rest on the final lap. The bronze went to the Belgian Kay De Bruyckere.
“I am very happy with it,” Haverdings responds from Belgium. “It was a tough race and I had no surplus. I rode well from the front throughout the race and remained focused. In the last lap the Italian pulled away and the rest all got stuck in the sand. I couldn’t move in any direction,” said Haverdings.
“So far I have just been ‘bad’ this season. That is why I chose to spend a week’s ‘holiday’ here with my brother Floris in combination with training. That has done my head good.”
Immediately in the first lap, Haverdings was part of a leading group of eight men, which quickly separated the wheat from the chaff. Then it was the Frenchman Aubin Sparfel who rode away solo. Haverdings made another attempt to close the gap and, especially in the running zones, he came closer and closer.
A fall of the French leader eventually brought everything back together and in the last lap the 18-year-old Italian Mattia Agostinacchio managed to make his decisive attack. Haverdings took silver in seventeen seconds. His brother Floris Haverdings finished twentieth, more than two minutes behind the winner.
Earlier in the day, the junior ladies also competed for the European title. There, 17-year-old Rianne Nieuwenhuis from Gieten finished in twelfth place. She had to concede for almost two minutes to the Czech Barbora Bukovska. The silver went to our compatriot Nynke Jochems. Italy won the bronze with Nicole Azzetti.