Jonathan Castroviejo (Spain) finally got what seems to be a long overdue medal at an international time trial championships when he took a dominant win in the inaugural European Time Trial Championships. The Spaniard covered the hilly 45.5km course in Plumelec in 58.13 to go 30 seconds faster than Victor Campenaerts (Belgium) who held off a strong comeback from Moreno Moser (Italy) to take the silver medal, with the Italian completing the podium.

 

We have gathered a few reactions.

 

Castroviejo: This is the reward for my many places of honour

An exemplary domestique has finally got to raise his arms victorious in 2016, a year that had turned its back against him so many times throughout the season. Jonathan Castroviejo (Movistar Team) shone again as bright as he always does with his national squad, and claimed the first-ever European TT title for professional riders in Plumelec, the same place team-mate Alejandro Valverde donned the Tour de France yellow jersey eight years ago. Always helping out the Spaniard and, above all, Nairo Quintana, whom he took to glory in a brilliant Vuelta a España for the whole team, the Getxo-born cyclist - seriously injured in his neck back in February, after a crash following the final stage of the Volta ao Algarve - rode an exceptional race over the 45km parcours in Brittany, an event where Nelson Oliveira came close to complete happiness after missing out on bronze by only 17 seconds.

 

It was a strong race overall for the two top Blues - Jasha Sütterlin, an early starter, took 19th in the day - yet cautious at the beginning, with Poland’s Marcin Bialoblocki - eventually 9th at the finish - putting 5" into Oliveira (2nd) and 6" into Castroviejo at the first intermediate, the 29-year-old Basque equal to Sylvain Chavanel (FRA; 13th over the line). While Oliveira conserved his second spot at the second time check, Castroviejo surged powerful towards a first place - 25" over Oliveira - he never let go anymore. On the final climb, a strong charge from both Victor Campenaerts (BEL, silver) and Moreno Moser (ITA, bronze) ruined Oliveira’s hopes, the Iberian still happy for Castroviejo as he claimed his 8th pro win - fourteenth from the Movistar Team, half the roster, to take a win this 2016 - and upped the Eusebio Unzué-managed team account to an almost historic figure: 35 wins, just one short of the squad’s all-time record from 1998.

Jonathan Castroviejo said: 

 

“Taking on such a TT just four days after a Vuelta a España is really difficult. It all depends on how you have finished things off there, if your team did well and you’ve got morale - I really tried to recover as much as possible, eat much and healthy, have as much rest as possible, and keeping my mind focused on this tough course, almost an hour-long one, with rough roads, small climbs, plenty of elevation gain. Fortunately, things turned out well.

 

“Having such experience from so many close calls really helped me today. You know that in such demanding courses, an effort of 55-60 minutes, everything can be lost on the last few kilometers, and as we saw that the start also suggested to take on a big gear and push hard, I rather decided to save some energy and stay calm for the end. We knew the Côte de Cadoudal and it was more than necessary to save some legs for the end. That was the plan, we developed it, and we delivered - I’m so happy!

 

“The Qatar Worlds? Well, we’ve got time before that. For me, the most important thing now is having some more rest, recovering also my head and not only my legs - and enjoying my family, whom I dedicate this victory. My wife and my child really suffered after my hard injury in February, and I can’t thank them enough for remaining close and caring. After that, we will race a couple of race with the team in Italy and we will start thinking about the Worlds after that. When it comes to physical work, we’ve done more than enough before Doha already!

 

”I had just finished 2nd in the time trial in the Vuelta (behind Chris Froome , ed.) and I really wanted to win this time. I was still very tired after all my last races, but this was also the case for many other riders. I was really having a good day and finally it worked out,” he told Directvelo.

 

“I'm used to finish seconds off the podium. And then I finally won a title and it's really important to me. This is clearly a reward after all these places of honor for many years. It is also an important medal for Spain. This is one of my best wins, even if the first on a stage of the Tour de Romandie was probably the most beautiful of all (in 2011, ed.).

 

“It's important to me. It will be difficult to win a Worlds title, so it's a nice gift to be able to wear the jersey of European champion for a year, especially since I am the first successful rider in the Elite category. Clearly, this is an important title and it will perhaps become even more important with time. I will forever be the first on the winner’s list.

 

“I really worked hard since the Tour of Switzerland and I did not know how I would feel here. I could easily have been completely off the pace but finally I was on a good day. Everything was done on the current form because I have not had one day to prepare. There were only four days between the end of the Vuelta and y arrival here and I spent half the time in transport. Obviously, it was the right strategy.

 

“I think everything depends on how we finished the Vuelta. Personally, I already did the Olympics and I have done many races and had to do a big job for the team at the Vuelta. So I was a little tired after 10 stages. But I tried to handle it and save some energy in recent days, although it was not easy with the journey from Spain to Brittany.

 

“I do not know if I'll still have the legs at the World Championships but it's not far away and it will remain a goal. It is a question of whether I can maintain a good physical condition in the coming weeks to better manage my form.

 

“I wish I could do well in one-week stage races.. I'll think about it this winter. I've spent five years at Movistar, but I'm only 29 and I still have time to evolve. Maybe we can change some things because actually, I think I can win one-week races. Some races with an time trial seem to perfectly match your qualities.

 

“As I improved much in the mountains and am a good time triallist, there will inevitably be opportunities in the future. With the new WorldTour schedule, it might be interesting to do new races like the Tour of Qatar and the Tour of California. All the world's best riders cannot go to these races, not the leaders of Movistar either, and this may give opportunities for me to win the World Tour races.”
 

RedBull is the key to Campenaerts’ silver medal at the European Championships
Victor Campenaerts of Team LottoNL-Jumbo finished second in the European Championships time trial. The Spaniard Jonathan Castroviejo (Movistar) won after 45 kilometers, 30 seconds faster than Campenaerts. The Italian Moreno Moser (Cannondale) took third. Team LottoNL-Jumbo rider Primoz Roglic was seventh, and Steven Lammertink finished 18th.

 

"I am happy with the silver medal, for me that was the highest achievable today. Castroviejo was a top favourite and he showed us his favourite-status," Campenaerts said. "Castroviejo rode a minute faster than me in the time trial in the Vuelta and was now 30 seconds faster. I'm glad I was able to put in such a good time trial.

 

"We reconned the course and I knew on the last hills that I had an advantage. When I heard that I was third at the last intermediate point, I knew I would end up on the podium.”

 

Campenaerts managed to use all his power and raced the time trial as planned. It was his first race after the Vuelta.

 

"The past few days were tough. Monday, I came back from Spain and I felt really like a wreck, I even considered not starting. But the medical staff said that it was nothing serious. From then I focused on today. Yesterday my legs felt good again and I noticed that I had power enough to ride a good time trial."

 

"Here I am very proud,” he told Het Nieuwsblad. "Amazingly, I just have Castroviejo in front of me

Since early this year, I have had advice and help from national coach Kevin De Weert. I am in contact with him regularly and he knows how to motivate me. At the last minute I asked if couldI have a Red Bull so I could take a sip before the start. If you get a sugar and caffeine mix just before the start, that will be good for your performance. That's something I learned from LottoNL-Jumbo where they work scientifically and follow a specific protocol for a time trial. You get so much confidence.

 

”I had also checked the course well with my coach. I knew I had to make the difference on the last two climbs. Eventually became a second place. I'm also happy for Kevin. After the gold with Greg at the Olympics, he now gets silver at the European Championships. Hopefully he can score again on Sunday.

 

"I just feel that I have taken a big step this year. After a few months at a WorldTour team I made ​​a lot of progress and I have learned a lot. If you do races like Paris-Nice, Tour of the Basque Country, Vuelta and Dauphine, you just become stronger as a rider. I feel that I have more power in the legs and that my time trialling can still improve.

 

“On Monday I was devastated. I really thought that I had nothing to do here. I would have been happy to finish inside the time cut. I was really devastated, I felt as sick as a dog, but I finally recovered well. Wednesday at training it all went well and I regained confidence. Today I again had the strength.

 

"Conceding thirty seconds to Castroviejo, it's almost a victory. When you are looking at the top 10, there are only good riders so it satisfies me. In 2013, the European title was my first big win. And here, the conditions offered me a unique opportunity to get a good result. The competition was more modest for this 1st edition in the pro ranks, so I had to grab it.
 

"Now, I can finally rest after these tough weeks. It was too short between the Vuelta and the European Championships to take rest so I'm going to rest the next weeks.”

 

The Qatar Worlds is the next goal.

 

"With our strong team we can go for a good result at the World Championship TTT. After that, the individual time trial, and I want to participate for a strong performance.

 

“This European Championship was a great opportunity for me to get a result. I seized that opportunity, but Qatar is another matter, against big names. I want to gain experience. Top ten seems difficult to achieve, but if I have a day like today, it might be possible. And that would be great.”

 

The Slovenian rider of Team LottoNL-Jumbo, Primoz Roglic, completed the 45 kilometers in 59 minutes and 20 seconds. His time was good for seventh place. His Dutch team-mate Steven Lammertink recorded a time of 1 hour 20 seconds, the 18th time.

 

Moser: I had never imagined to be on the podium.

Moreno Moser (Italy) finished third. He told Directvelo:

 

"This medal is a surprise to me. I knew I could achieve a good result but I had never imagined to be on the podium. I leave the Vuelta with good condition. I had a slow start because I have this bad habit of taking off too quickly. I kept a lot of strength for the last kilometer. I had noticed this during the recon and I adapted my rhythm to the final climb. I missed second place by very little which is too bad. Jonathan Castroviejo and Victor Campenaerts are pure specialists. This season is better than last year. I am happy to end my year on a good note even though I will attend some late season races.”
 

Lampaert regrets late mistake at European Championships
Yves Lampaert (Belgium) finished sixth. He told Directvelo and Het Nieuwsblad.

 

"I was well off the pace for most of the race. But on the last climb, I was slightly overwhelmed. I was first at the first intermediate chck, but I did not really take this information into account. The course was difficult. I feel that I have recovered after the Vuelta.
 

"It would be nice to say that you are top five at the European Championships. Nevertheless, I am satisfied with this result as it was unexpected.

 

"I had to ride full gas in the end. I was afraid that I would 'explode' on that final climb and held something back at the beginning of the climb. I should not have done that. I might have been closer to Roux then. In the last two kilometers I had to go à bloc, but for the rest I gauged the effort well and made no mistakes along the way. It is too bad that I missed a few seconds.

 

"I am particularly pleased that I am so well recovered after the Vuelta. Monday and Tuesday I felt different. This gives me confidence for what's to come. I'm happy for Victor, his podium is really nice.”

Roche confirms TT progress at European championships

Nicolas Roche (Ireland) finished 8th. He told Directvelo:

 

"I was a bloc! I felt good today. I probably went a bit too hard in the middle part. I paid for that in the last third. I did not feel it at the time. In any case you must give everything at a championshipsand hope to hold it to the end. I have not really done badly but others were simply better. For me it was a beautiful, very demanding course.”
 

Chavanel blows up after strong start in European TT

Despite having posted excellent time checks, Sylvain Chavanel had to settle for a thirteenth place. He told Directvelo.

 

“I'm disappointed as always at the Championships. I cannot explain it. It's like that. Sometimes I start too fast but I think it's better to do at a championship. We must try something to get on the podium. I did not go into the red either, but it is better to have good time at the first intermediate check. Sometimes it's good for the morale. Today I felt that I suffered in the last ten kilometers. With this hard final, I was doomed. 45 km may be a little long for me

 

“It is true that I expected a fast time trial after the recon. Finally, when I look at my speed and my average watts, I realize that this was not really the case. It’s not the climbs but the wind that makes it ahard circuit. There were long sections with ¾ headwind. You always had to push and it was getting difficult.”

 

Stefan Küng on the comeback trail at European Championships

Stefan Küng was 16th after a long break from injury. He told Directvelo:

 

"This European Championship marked my return to competition after my big crash (at the Swiss Championships, ed.), so I regarded this race as mere training . Recently, I have trained especially for the World TTT Championships. Do not forget that I have been back on the road only for three weeks. Every day I am making more kilometers and I train with more strength. To approach each day with good physical and mental condition is important.  I suffered a lot during these months without competition. I also watched the failure of my Swiss Olympic teammates on the track. Gor me it was a very emotional moment. I was part of this project and I was at the head of this team. It gave me great pain not to share it with them, especially as we were really a good team. I wish I could be there and help them, but it's like that. Despite this disappointment, we must not forget that we have assembled a great project from scratch. It's still an example for many. Now, from a personal point of view, this non-participation in the Olympics was the end of my career on the track. Starting today, I'll concentrate 100% on the road.”
 

Swiss track rider leaves disappointment behind him at European Championships
Théry Schir finished 26th at 3'58". He told Directvelo: 

 

"I have not had an easy and enjoyable period recently, with the disappointment of our performance on the track at the Olympic Games. It took time to digest this disappointment. Frankly, I was at the bottom when I returned from Brazil. We had not had time to make a real preparation and ride together, and then we probably made ​​planning mistakes. We did not find the right ingredients for success while it worked well for many years. Maybe we rested on our laurels, while in sport, you are never sure of anything. After that, I did not know where I was, but I was asked to do this European TT. I thought it could be a good thing for me. I thought I was a little better today. This is the first time I did a time trial of 45 kilometers or more. The form was not coming back in two weeks so it's not so bad. It's still a good experience. This is a lackluster season for me. I hope to find a team next year but there are many people on the market and with a season like this, it's hard to remember that we made ​​results in the past and that I have qualities. I am still motivated. I do not think about the Worlds. There are stronger guys in the team. I'm pretty late in the season. I hope to have a big winter and start something better next year. ”

Jungels: It was a bad day

Bob Jungels (Luxembourg) was 27th. He told Directvelo.

 

"I was on a bad day. I'm disappointed with the result but above all with the time I lost. More than four minutes it is much. It can happen. I will not participate in the road race. I prefer to go to the Eneco Tour to prepare for the Worlds.”