The German track cyclists shine at the European Championships. On Sunday, however, they were overshadowed by an exceptional Italian.
Anyone who has ever ridden a 200-kilometer bike race knows how exhausted one is after such a load. After that, nothing works at all. It was completely different on Sunday (08/14/2022) with the Italian Elia Viviani. The 33-year-old, who has been cycling professionally both on the track and on the road since 2010, put in a real masterpiece in terms of endurance sports at the European Championships.
Five hours of massage was enough
After Viviani had finished the almost 208-kilometer road race in seventh place shortly after 3 p.m., he returned to the competition around 8 p.m. This time at the European Track Championships, which were also held in Munich.
And there he became European Champion in the Elimination Driving in the jersey of the reigning World Champion ahead of the German Theo Reinhardt and the Belgian Jules Hesters. “What a day”cried Viviani after his triumph, and he was right: it was a real feat.
“It was a long day at work”
“It was a long day’s work, first a good road race, although we Italians cannot be satisfied with seventh place. We had previously won the European title four times in a row, so we were hoping for more, at least another medal.”said Viviani in an interview with the world cycling association UCI.
Elijah Viviani – on the street
“You can only tip your hat”
What her colleagues on the street didn’t do well during the day, Viviani made up for in the evening. “We just wanted to look after the road race. I recovered well, got a good massage and I was quite confident. The form was there after a full week of training on the track”says Viviani, who after a rest day will also start at Madison on Tuesday.
“He’s world class, an exceptional athlete, that’s for sure. You can only tip your hat.”said Reinhardt, who was impressed by Viviani’s double start: “Something like that can work well on certain days, this time it worked well. He can assert himself in the field, that’s a huge advantage.”
Viviani – from youth on track and road
Viviani, who was born in Veneto, had never been able to choose between the two cycling disciplines. As early as 2006, as a 17-year-old, he won his first international titles on the track in the juniors, and in the same year he also won well-known Italian races on the road.
Nine stage wins in the “Grand Tours”
In 2010 he signed his first contract as a road professional with Liquigas. As an outstanding sprinter, in the years that followed he won five stages at the Giro d’Italia, three at the Vuelta and once stood on the top step of the podium in a day section of the Tour de France. As a three-time winner of the Hamburg Cyclassics, he is also well known in Germany.
However, Viviani won the most brilliant medals on the track: in 2016 in Rio he became Olympic champion in the Omnium, in 2021 in Tokyo he was rewarded with bronze in the same discipline.