Matteo Bianchi triumphed. © APA/afp / JOHN THYS

Cycling sensation: A man from Leifer is European champion

Matteo Bianchi will not forget this day in his life: On Thursday, the 22-year-old from Leifer was crowned European champion in Holland.

12 January 2024

From: det

Matteo Bianchi has shown many times in the past that he is a huge cycling talent. In 2022, for example, he was named vice-European champion in the 1-kilometer time trial. The Leifer man was now able to top that. At the European Track Championships in Apeldoorn, Holland, Bianchi once again sensationally raced to the gold medal in the 1 km time trial. In doing so, he wrote sports history: no athlete from Italy has ever won this title.

The fact that it could be a good day for Bianchi was already evident in the qualification, in which the South Tyrolean was the fastest of all 18 participants. In the final, the youngster kept his nerve and took home the win. With a time of 1.00,272:1.00,414 minutes, Bianchi beat the Dutchman Daan Kool (1.00,472:XNUMX minutes) and the Frenchman Melvin Landerneau (XNUMX:XNUMX).

The podium, from left: Daan Kool, Matteo Bianchi and Melvin Landerneau. © APA/afp / JOHN THYS

Bianchi impressively underlined on Thursday that he has huge potential and can bring many more beautiful moments to South Tyrolean cycling in the future. It's a bit of a shame: the 1 km event is not on the program at the Olympic Games in Paris this summer.