European U23 Road Championships - CC

Athens, Greece, August 15-17, 2003

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Stage 2 - August 17: Road Race, 105.6/158.4 km (W/M)

Visconti takes close men's race

Giovanni Visconti
Photo: © AFP

Five riders were in contention for victory right up to the finish of the men's endurance road race in the European U23 Road Championships today. After a photo finish, the winner was declared to be Giovanni Visconti in a time of 4:10:31. Runner-up in the 158.4 km race was Frenchman Jeremie Roy, with Slovenia's Kristijan Fajt third, Only 57 of the 143 starters finished the race.

For the 20 year old Visconti, a native of Palermo in Sicily, this was his first appearance in a big meeting abroad, but he still managed to take the title of European champion. He also made his father, who had travelled to Athens to watch him, proud.

"I'm especially happy with my win", said Visconti. "After 40 kms I had a problem with my rear tyre and had to stop and change it. That only made me more determined. I'd like to thank my team members for their help, especially my mate Giannetti, who was leading until two laps before the end. He helped me a lot when I was getting tired and got me ready for the final sprint".

Silver medalist Roy from France said, "The start was a difficult one for the French team, as a group of riders stuck together and went out in front. After the fifth lap I managed to get in front. After that, the team protected me. All the team members worked together excellently and that's how we managed to have seven cross the finish line".

Fajt from Slovenia was not expecting to finish so high up. "From the fifth km I was one of the leaders", he said. "This was not part of our tactics, but since I was there I kept going even though I wasn't expecting to finish third. The race was difficult - a lot of ups and downs, a lot of hairpin bends. The organisation was excellent but there were a lot of birds and it made life difficult for the riders."

Moreno Allue wins women's road race

Maria Isabel Morreno Allue
Photo: © AFP

After launching an attack on the last of the eight laps in the U-23 Women's Road Race, Spaniard Maria Isabel Morreno Allue crossed the line first. Morreno Allue, who finished third in the individual time trials on Friday in Vouliagmeni, today rode a time of 3:03.28 to beat German Theresa Senff by 39 seconds, with Dutchwoman Vera Koedooder third in the same time.

"The course went just as we had planned it with the team," said Morreno Allue in the post-race press conference. "We raced round the first laps slowly to save our strength and then launched an attack on the last lap. The course was difficult. It was quite fast and with many bends but safe".

Silver medallist Theresa Senff added, "The course was very difficult but we have a very strong team. At the end though, Isabel was just too strong for us".

Koedooder agreed. "The course was very difficult and the weather was very hot. I had an accident two weeks before the event so training was very difficult. I came fourth in the individual time trials because of these problems and I was quite upset about that. So I was very pleased when I came third today. I'm very happy with the result".

The coach of the Spanish team, Juan Carlos Martinez, expressed great satisfaction with the course and its technical features. "The heat posed no problems for my team, as we are used to such temperatures. The organisation was great on security matters".

Photos

Images by AFP

Riders pass the Acropolis during the Men's race
Giovanni Visconti (Italy) wins the Men's race
Maria Isabel Morreno Allue of Spain and Theresa Senff (Germany) sprint for the finish
In the end it was Maria Isabel Morreno Allue for the win

Results

Men - 158.4 km

1 Giovanni Visconti (Italy)                4.10.31 (37.937 km/h)
2 Jeremie Roy (France)
3 Kristjan Fajt (Slovenia)
4 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Belgium)
5 Moises Duenas Nevado (Spain)
6 Nebojsa Jovanovic (Serbia Montenegro)       0.03
7 Massimo Iannetti (Italy)                    0.12
8 Jukka Vastaranta (Finland)                  0.53
9 Emanuele Sella (Italy)                      0.55
10 Tarmo Raudsepp (Estonia)                   1.14
11 Thomas Dekker (Netherlands)
12 Denys Kostyuk (Ukraine)
13 Kalle Kriit (Estonia)
14 Aristide Ratti (Italy)
15 Vladimir Goussev (Russia)
16 Matej Jurco (Slovakia)
17 Blazej Janiaczyk (Poland)
18 Jens Renders (Belgium)
19 Johan Van Summeren (Belgium)
20 Andreas Molandsveen (Norway)
21 Vincenzo Nibali (Italy)                    1.17
22 Ale ander Arekeev (Russia)                 1.20
23 Jose Alberdi Ventoso (Spain)               1.47
24 Markus Fothen (Germany)
25 Preben Van Hecke (Belgium)
26 Daniele Colli (Italy)
27 Florian Stalder (Switzerland)
28 Ha ime Monfort (Belgium)
29 Philip Deignan (Ireland)
30 Viktor Rapinski (Beloyrissia)
31 Koen De Kort (Netherlands)                 1.50
32 Christian Knees (Germany)
33 Tom Veelers (Netherlands)
34 Karolis Volungevicius (Lithuania)
35 Andrey Pchelkin (Russia)                   1.53
36 Matija Kvasina (Croatia)                   1.56
37 Ale andre Urbain (France)                  2.13
38 Hubert Schwab (Switzerland)                2.17
39 Andre Vital (Portugal)                     2.18
40 Mariusz Wiesiak (Poland)                   2.36
41 Pawel Szaniawski (Poland)
42 Andreas Matzacher (Austria)
43 Andriy Pryschepa (Ukraine)                 5.52
44 Thomas Nosari (France)                     6.37
45 Mathieu Sprick (France)
46 Janez Brajkovic (Slovenia)                 6.55
47 Tomaz Nose (Slovenia)
48 Matic Strgar (Slovenia)
49 Olegs Melehs (Latvia)                     10.46
50 Per Martin Lund (Norway)
51 Denis Birjukoy (Estonia)
52 Laurent Didier (Lu embourg)               13.39
53 Marcus Burghardt (Germany)
54 Mattius Nyhammer (Norway)                 14.03
55 Marian Hecl (Slovakia)                    14.23
56 Julien Marcuz (France)                    15.26
57 Moritz Veit (Germany)                     21.21

Women - 105.6 km

1 Maria Isabel Morreno Allue (Spain)       3.03.28 (34.534 km/h)
2 Theresa Senff (Germany)                     0.39
3 Vera Koedooder (Netherlands)
4 Angela Brodtka (Germany)                    0.44
5 Giorgia Bronzini (Italy)
6 Esther Van Der Helm (Netherlands)
7 Sharon Van Essen (Netherlands)
8 Corine Hierckens (Belgium)
9 Modesta Vzesniauskaite (Lithuania)
10 Sharon Van Dromme (Belgium)
11 Sophie Creu  (France)
12 Virginie Moinard (France)
13 Loes Sels (Belgium)
14 Sarah Duster (Germany)
15 Rosa Membrives Gimenez (Spain)
16 Monika Furrer (Switzerland)                0.53
17 Noemi Cantele (Italy)                      0.59
18 Anna Szafraniec (Poland)                   3.00
19 Minke Van Dongen (Netherlands)
20 Delphine Guille (France)
21 Juliette Vandekerckhove (France)
22 Tatiana Guderzo (Italy)
23 Tri i Worrack (Germany)
24 Bettina Kuhn (Switzerland)                 3.39
25 Magdalena Sadlecka (Poland)                3.51
26 Barbara Cazzaniga (Italy)                  4.52
27 Jennifer Hohl (Switzerland)                5.12
28 Bernadette Schober (Austria)               8.46
29 Ekaterina Malomura (Russia)               10.59
30 Claudia Hecht (Germany)
31 Barbara Lancioni (Italy)
32 Indre Januleviciute (Lithuania)
33 Nadia Bachmann (Switzerland)              12.56
34 Andrea Knecht (Switzerland)
35 Isabelle Hoffmann (Lu embourg)            13.57
36 Lisa Bacchiavini (Italy)                  14.53
37 Anna Ramirez Bau ell (Spain)
38 Sari Saarelainen (Finland)
39 Leticia Gil Parra (Spain)
40 Nina Ovcharenko (Ukraine)
41 Svitlana Semchuk (Ukraine)                16.03
42 Paulina Brzezna (Poland)                  17.58
43 Lene Byberg (Norway)                      20.22
44 Ekaterina Yamucheva (Russia)
45 Natalia Boiarskaia (Russia)               21.43
46 Youlia Blinduk (Russia)                   24.23
47 Anna Sipurzynska (Poland)
48 Bertine Spijkerman (Netherlands)
49 Daniela Pintarelli (Austria)
50 Teija Alaviiri (Finland)                 24.40