Lea Sophie Friedrich missed defending her title in the sprint tournament at the European Track Cycling Championships in Apeldoorn on Friday (January 12, 2024) and won the silver medal. Bronze went to Emma Hinze.
The 24-year-old Friedrich lost in two runs in the final to Emma Finucane (Great Britain), who had already won the World Cup final against the BDR athlete last August. This means that Kristina Vogel (2013, 2017) remains the only German to have won European Championship gold twice in the sprint. Hinze secured third place after a 2-0 win against Mathilde Gros from France.
At the start on Wednesday, Friedrich, Hinze and Pauline Grabosch confidently won European Championship gold in the team sprint for the fourth time in a row. Friedrich has another chance for the title in the Keirin on Sunday (January 14, 2024), in which she has recently become world champion three times in a row.
So far five medals for the German team
In the 4000 meter individual pursuit, Tobias Buck-Gramcko, who came third last year, took fourth place in 4:10.802 minutes. Daniel Bigham became European champion (4:05.783/Great Britain). The German sprint men Maximilian Dörnbach and Luca Spiegel once again had no chance and were eliminated in the round of 16.
The Association of German Cyclists (BDR) won medals four and five at the European Championships with silver and bronze on the third day. The German team sprinters and the Madison duo Roger Kluge/Theo Reinhardt had previously won gold. The women’s foursome won the bronze medal in the team pursuit. The European Championship ends on Sunday.