MADRID, 5 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish cyclist Felipe Orts finished ninth this Sunday in the 2023 European Cyclocross Championship, with the difficulty of the rain and mud that formed on the Pont-Chateau circuit (France), while Lucía González was the best Spanish in the women’s race, fourteenth.
Orts achieved his fourth ‘Top 10’ in a European Championship after a great start and fighting during the first half of the race in the group that ended up competing for the medals. “It has been a very hard day, the circuit was impassable and I think we have all suffered a lot. I wanted to be in the top 10 again and I have achieved it, so I am happy,” he said in statements provided by the Royal Spanish Cycling Federation ( RFEC).
The adverse weather that already postponed the competition on Saturday changed the route. The route, fast and with a lot of pace, was filled with mud, increasing the risk and hardness. The Belgian Michael Vanthourenhout, who was defending the title, left alone at the front and a large group was established behind where the Spaniard entered for three laps.
Cameron Mason, Lars Van der Haar and Pim Ronhaar then escaped to fight for the medals and Orts secured the ‘Top 10’. The victory went to Vanthourenhout ahead of Mason and Van der Haar.
The elite women’s race fulfilled the script as the Dutch Fem Van Empel dominated from start to finish to win and take the victory, ahead of her compatriot Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado and the Italian Sara Casasola. Lucía González kept the position in which she started.