The German sprinters finish the European Track Cycling Championships extremely successfully. Lea Sophie Friedrich and Maximilian Dörnbach win gold and silver in the keirin. In the Madison, Roger Kluge and Theo Reinhardt followed suit impressively.
Lea Sophie Friedrich banged her fist on the handlebars and roared her joy, Maximilian Dörnbach let himself be celebrated by the enthusiastic audience: The German short-term specialists have a “fight with six crazy sprinters” at the end of the golden days at the European Track Cycling Championships last big medal party celebrated. Roger Kluge and Theo Reinhardt finished with gold in the Madison.
World champion Friedrich won the women’s keirin tournament and secured her second title in Munich after triumphing in the team sprint. In the men’s race, Maximilian Dörnbach took silver in the keirin one day after bronze in the 1000 meter time trial. “That was probably the toughest race of my career, I’m so proud of myself. I’m European champion! That’s great,” said Friedrich, who narrowly missed out on bronze in fourth place in the sprint on Monday: “I realized just before the start : ‘Hey, Lea, you have to defend this title. You have to fight for it.'”
Friedrich completed an impressive record of the German sprinters: Friedrich and three-time European champion Emma Hinze (team sprint, time trial, sprint) share all the titles in the short-term disciplines. The Federation of German Cyclists (BDR) collected 13 medals on the 200-meter track in the Munich exhibition halls, eight of them gold. Hinze had decided not to start in the keirin due to the wear and tear of her strength. The Cottbus resident is now focusing on the World Championships in Paris in October.
Friedrich is now traveling to them as a double European champion. The 22-year-old beat Urszula Los from Poland and Olena Starikova from Ukraine. She started the race from the unfavorable fifth and penultimate position. But then she quickly took the lead. In the final lap she took the lead and never gave it up.
Dörnbach and the second German in the Keirin final, Marc Jurczyk, took the lead after the sharp start and were at the head of the group of six for a long time. Jurczyk finally ran out of strength, the 26-year-old finished sixth. Dörnbach’s power reached the finish line. Only the French Sebastien Vigier he had to give way. Bronze went to his compatriot Melvin Landerneau. “The keirin is always a big fight with six crazy sprinters. In the end it’s the legs and the head. In the keirin there is always a certain amount of luck involved,” said Dörnbach.
The performance of two-time Madison World Champions Kluge and Reinhardt was also great. The duo collected 101 points in the 50-kilometer race and won ahead of France (91) and Belgium (58). “Unfortunately we didn’t perform in Tokyo,” said Kluge. “Now we’re back, we can be expected again.”
BDR sports director Patrick Moster drew a positive EM conclusion. “We were able to present ourselves very well in front of a home crowd. It’s a great record. It’s a positive assessment of where we stand. But it also showed us where we need to work further,” said Moster, who is primarily responsible for the “mass disciplines” meant.
