European Championship ITTs going on today, with the predictable head of the field being made up of the host nation's talents, seeing as the host nation is of course the Netherlands. Before they could get ready to celebrate, however, the German Hannah Ludwig made mincemeat of her U23 opposition, winning by a clear 38 seconds over a 22km time trial, ahead of the Russian Maria Novolodskaya and Italy's Elena Pirrone. Interestingly, all are well within the age restriction - Pirrone is 20, Novolodskaya turned 20 just two weeks ago, and Ludwig is still 19. The silver and bronze battle was very tight, with Pirrone just 2" behind the Russian, and both Aurora Nerlo of Poland and Emma Norsgaard of Denmark missing out by 2" themselves.
Ludwig's time would have placed her 7th in the elite TT over the same course, but well over a minute down on the winner, local favourite Ellen van Dijk. Van Dijk completed the course in just over 28 minutes, for an advantage of 30" over silver medallist Lisa Klein, who only turned 23 last month, and compatriot Lucinda Brand, who narrowly pipped adoptive Norwegian (Latvian-born) Vita Heine for bronze with just 2" advantage again. Anna Kiesenhofer, seemingly much happier now divorced from the rigmarole of a pro career, rounded out the top 5 for Austria and taking some noteworthy scalps, including Mieke Kröger, Hayley Simmonds and Pernille Mathiesen, along with Hour Record holder Vittoria Bussi, who missed out on the top 10, preferring a longer test than this clearly. Some who will be very disappointed with their day's work include Ann-Sophie Duyck, usually a very strong time triallist but down in 17th today, and Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig, 23rd of 31 entrants which is very unlike her.
Yesterday, the Junior race was another home win, with 17-year-old Shirin van Anrooij taking the win for the Netherlands ahead of Aigul Gareeva of Russia by just 3 seconds; the two had a significant advantage over the bronze medal, which eventually went to Sweden's Wilma Olausson. At the same time, on the other side of the Atlantic, the Pan-American Games ITT was taking place in Lima, with Chloe Dygert stomping the field pretty comprehensively, with few other North Americans making the journey, and only the WCC's Teniel Campbell - fresh from her wins in Brétagne last week - able to stay within two and a half minutes of the American phenom.