The Algarve cyclist Daniela Campos won the bronze medal in the scratch, in under-23, in the European Track Championships that take place at the National Velodrome, in Sangalhos (Anadia). Not a single fall took her away from the podium.
The Portuguese cyclist left for the race aware of what she had to do, keeping an eye on the opponents she knew would be the strongest in the medal discussion.
The fall was a “mistake”, as he said.
“We have only five laps to resume the race. My only concern was to resume as soon as possible, stay focused, even with the pain. I never lost the notion of my position in the group and the focus on the opponents that I had as a reference to finish well», he explained.
Already medaled in junior, Daniela Campos adds the under-23 bronze to the list: «it is a very happy moment. It's very good for me and for the team after so much work and bad luck that I've been having lately», referring to the fall in the European road race bottom end, last Sunday.
Coach Gabriel Mendes was proud of another achievement by a Portuguese cyclist on the track.
«We work to improve progressively. Daniela's achievement of the medal reflects the work she developed on the track, attentive to what were the important factors of the competition and, when that is the case, the probability of succeeding is greater. We have to be focused on what is the work we have to develop and try to be as competent as possible in competition. If we don't have the competence, if we don't have the skills to do things in the race, it's difficult to get to the top of the classification. This happened and we are very happy and proud of Daniela's medal. We have to keep working because there are aspects to improve”, she stressed.
The race was won by the Czech Petra Sevcikova, who gave a lead lap to the group. Britain's Ella Barnwell took the silver medal.
Rodrigo Caixas tried to defend the title won in 2021 at the scratch, also in under-23, and launched himself to the front of the race, forcing the opponents to be very attentive and to chase him. However, in the final part of the race, he would eventually be overtaken, finishing in seventh position.
“Rodrigo was very good. The final part was a shame. He wasn't getting to see the amount of athletes he had in his wheel. He knew he was going to split, but he had no real awareness of the concrete situation. The runner who was chasing him and had the other two in his circle knew that we were in a risky situation. I tried to communicate, but it's not easy to communicate here. He would bring the athlete to 10 meters and observing it is not possible to have a very good perception of what was happening. But he had a spectacular race”, said Gabriel Mendes.
The British William Tidball – who would become European champion – led the pursuit of the Portuguese, having in his wheel the cyclists who would end up with the silver and bronze medal: the Austrian Tim Wafler and the Ukrainian Kyrylo Tsarenko.
On the second day of competition at the Sangalhos velodrome, two more Portuguese were in the competition, the juniors Laura Simão and Francisco Marques. Both were in the elimination race, with the young cyclist being the first to leave the race, while Marques finished in 12th position.
“They are rookies and it is a very difficult race. It was a shame that Laura was eliminated in the first situation, but it is the first time she is competing at this level and there is still a lot to learn. She has the ability to progress. João showed a very strong attitude. In the final part he was also eliminated due to inexperience, but that is a consequence of the lack of competition at this level that they have. With more experience, they will be able to progress», stressed Gabriel Mendes.
The women's event was won by Czech Barbora Nemcová, with Ukrainian Anna Kolyzhuk winning the silver medal and British Awen Roberts the bronze. In the men's race, the champion was Italian Matteo Fiorin, with Great Britain taking silver through Jed Smithson and Slovenian Zak Erzen securing bronze.
The third day of the Junior and Under-23 European Championships will be dedicated mostly to speed competitions and there will be no Portuguese in the competition.
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