Azzurra Ballan won the Junior Women’s road race at the European Championships on Sunday, winning the sprint from a group of four.
Riding for the Italian team, the 18-year-old was the comfortable winner, easily out-sprinting her rivals, with Morgane Lestrade (France) finishing second and Klara Dworatzek (Germany) in third place.
After the group formed on the second of three laps around the Slovenian town of Šenčur, the Germans were ideally placed, with Leni Burger also in the leading quartet, but despite Burger’s lead out, Dworatzek was unable to hold off the others.
Only in its fifth edition, the Junior women’s race at the UEC European Road Championships took place on the same circuit used for the other races this week, though this time the riders tackled the 22km lap three times. The Možjanca climb once again proved decisive, its brutal slopes way into double digit gradients, the staging point, the race splitting the first time up, a small group getting away.
Naxara Odriozola (Spain), Azzurra Ballan (Italy), Morgane Lestrade (France) and the German pair of Leni Burger and Klara Dworatek finished the first lap leading a lone chaser by almost a minute. Next time around that lead has extended, though Odriozola was by then dropped and was chasing with Dutch rider Jade Zijlstra 1:30 down.
The final ascent of the climb proved too much for the two Germans, pressure form Lestrade seeing both lose contact, though they were still just about within touching distance at the top, and the quartet reformed on the ensuing plateau. On both the climb and the descent a chasing group began to take time out of the leading group, but such was their advantage they were set to contest the win.
Result
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Position
Rider (Country) Team
Time Gap
1
Azzurra Ballan (Ita)
1:52:38
2
Morgane Lestrade (Fra)
Row 1 - Cell 2
3
Klara Dworatzek (Ger)
Row 2 - Cell 2
4
Leni Burger (Ger)
0:00:05
5
Elisa Bianchi (Ita)
0:01:34
6
Eva Drhová (Cze)
Row 5 - Cell 2
7
Alejandra Neira (Spa)
Row 6 - Cell 2
8
Edda Bieberle (Ger)
Row 7 - Cell 2
9
Karolina Hajduková (Svk)
Row 8 - Cell 2
10
Amandine Jakob (Ger)
Row 9 - Cell 2
11
Matilde Rossignoli (Ita)
Row 10 - Cell 2
12
Elena Lopes (Lux)
Row 11 - Cell 2
13
Karolina Špicarová (Cze)
Row 12 - Cell 2
14
Mirthe Mons (Ned)
Row 13 - Cell 2
15
Laura Fivé (Bel)
Row 14 - Cell 2
16
Thaïs Poirier (Fra)
Row 15 - Cell 2
17
Giorgia Pellizotti (Ita)
Row 16 - Cell 2
18
Lujza Bartošiková (Svk)
Row 17 - Cell 2
19
Anja Grossmann (Swi)
Row 18 - Cell 2
20
Alessia Orsi (Ita)
Row 19 - Cell 2
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A recent addition to the Cyclingnews staff, Owen Rogers is an experienced journalist, working as a freelancer covering the sport for various magazines and websites for more than 10 years.
Initially concentrating mainly on the women's sport, he has covered hundreds of race days on the ground and interviewed some of the sport's biggest names.
Living near Cambridge in the UK, when he's not working you'll find him either riding his bike or playing drums.
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