The third day of the UEC Track Juniors and Under-23 European Championships, taking place in Anadia until Sunday, was marked by a series of historic moments, with four world records broken in individual pursuit events.
The first record fell early in the day, when Linda Rapporti (Italy) set a new junior women’s individual pursuit world record during the morning qualifiers. Her time, however, stood for only a few minutes: in the following heat, Ida Fialla Dam (Denmark) improved the mark to 3:32.060. Later that evening, Fialla Dam returned to the track for the final and broke her own record again, sealing the gold medal with an outstanding time of 3:31.442. The podium was completed by Linda Rapporti (Italy) and Rosalie Blackburn (Great Britain).
In the junior men’s individual pursuit, Henry Hobbs (Great Britain) delivered another world-class performance, taking the gold medal and setting a new world record of 3:03.246. Luc Royer (France) took silver, while Ruben Ferrari (Italy) claimed bronze.
In the under-23 team pursuit finals, Great Britain confirmed its dominance. The British women’s team claimed gold ahead of Germany and Belgium, while the men’s team also secured the top step of the podium, beating Germany in the final, with Italy taking bronze.
In the men’s under-23 kilometre time trial, Henric Hackmann (Germany) lived up to expectations and claimed the European title with a time of 1:00.497. Etienne Oliviero (France) and Esteban Sanchez Garmendia (Spain) completed the podium.
The day concluded with the junior women’s sprint final, where Emilia Waterstradt (Germany) claimed gold. Zita Gheysens (Belgium) took silver, while Iuliia Chertikhina secured the bronze medal.
The UEC Track Juniors and Under-23 European Championships continue on Friday with multiple omnium events and points races. The competition runs until Sunday at the National Velodrome in Sangalhos, with free entry for Anadia residents and live updates via the UEC digital platforms.
Photos: Paulo Maria / FPC
