Pérez defended, Palmisano debut in NR

The Italian Eleonora Giorgi opened the 35km race with pretty fast pace, her lead after ten kilometres grew to 41 seconds on the group of chasers. But then defending champion María Pérez of Spain began to work hard to erase the deficit and caught her shortly after the halfway point. Giorgi then began to struggle and didn't finish the race at all.

Pérez also had a crisis, but she quickly averted it and then headed for the win, although the performance was not as excellent as two years ago. "It was very difficult for my stomach today, so I was not able to go for the world record again. But every victory counts, may be this one is even more valuable," she said after winning in a world-leading time of 2:38:59.

Antonella Palmisano had an excellent debut on the 35km course. She crossed the 20 kilometres, the distance she is the Olympic champion from Tokyo, three quarters of a minute behind Pérez as fourth. But unlike her rivals, she didn't fade, quite the opposite, and after shaking off compatriot Nicole Colombi, she went on to take second place quite comfortably, in a national record of 2:39:35 on top of that.

Colombi had no reason to be sad, however, as she held her third position comfortably and her 2:21:47 is a new personal best. Less than a minute back, Hanna Shevchuk of Ukraine improved the national record of Ukraine to 2:42:41.

Only two teams were classified. The gold medals went to the Italians, who were supported by the fifth Federica Curiazzi, while the silver went to the Spaniards.

McGrath breaks Championships’ record

The men's 20km race did not get off to a brisk start, not even for Frenchman Gabriel Bordier, who broke away from his rivals on the first lap and built up a lead of more than a quarter of a minute. However, his advantage began to thin as he passed the halfway point of the race and was caught by Paul McGrath at the 13km mark. The Spaniard, who was fifth at the European Championships in Poděbrady the year before, took the lead quite decisively and it was he who went on to take the win.

McGrath was 39:39 at the halfway point, but he accelerated by more than a minute in the second half (38:36) to push the final time well under 1:20 hours. The 1:18:05 performance is not only a European Championship best (this is the 3rd edition of the event), but it also broke the European Cup best held by Polish legend Robert Korzeniowski of Eisenhüttenstadt in 2000 with a time of 1:18:29.

"I am very proud of myself. It is big win for me, beating very good competitors. It has been a very good race and I am looking forward for the summer. My plan was to go 4-minute pace for the first 8-10 kilometres, and then feel myself and go for the last 10 km. And it went perfect.”

Defending champion Francesco Fortunato didn't get to the front this time, but he was in the chasing pack from the start, eventually taking second place on the last lap in 1:18:16. Gabriel Bordier finished third, but besides the bronze he also took home a personal best of 1:18:23.

The most even team battle of the day was decided by the additional criterium, with the Spanish and Italians having a combined total of 16 points between the three riders. McGrath and his teammates Álvaro López (sixth) and Iván López (ninth) celebrated gold. Fortunato and teammates Andrea Cosi (fourth) and Michele Antonelli (tenth) took silver.

Olyanovska, the first Ukrainian to win “Euro Cup”

For a third of the women's 20km race, a large group of eleven held the lead. It was not until the 8th kilometre that a trio of women racers separated. They stayed together for the next few laps, but Mariia Sakharuk dropped out at the 13th km and the Ukrainian was soon replaced by Frenchwoman Pauline Stey in third position. Her compatriot Clémence Beretta battled with another Ukrainian Lyudmila Olyanovska for the top spot. But shortly after they entered the last quarter, the Ukrainian made a move on the Frenchwoman and took a slight lead.

That proved decisive and after a more tepid start Olyanovska triumphed as the first Ukrainian woman in the European Cup competition in her season's best of 1:27:56. "I thank my coach and everyone else who participated in my preparation, I thank the Ukrainian army that I can still be Ukrainian, I thank the spectators. The last kilometre was fine, the second and third 5 km units (from 5 to 15 km) were important, when I first stayed in the front group and then attacked for the victory," she said.

Clémence Beretta lost a few seconds but was visibly happy. She reached the finish line in a personal and national record of 1:28:05. And a few seconds later she was able to celebrate with teammate Pauline Stey, who also added a career best 1:28:18 to her third-place finish.

The gold and silver in the team competition were determined by a combined total of two points, or just only two positions. The title was eventually won by the French women, where the individual medallists were complemented by tenth-placed Ana Delahaie. The Spanish women, led by fourth-placed Antia Chamosa (1:29:11), finished second. Ukraine's Olyanovska repeated the ceremony with her teammates this time taking bronze.

Czech hope Ema Klimentová broke up the race for a significant improvement on her personal best. However, two red cards (and a possible penalty lane) slowed her down and in the end it was a new best of "only" 18 seconds (1:38:00) and a final 25th place for the young competitor (last year's junior).

U20 races: historical European Cup & Championships’ results

Giuseppe Disabato gave a great performance in the men's junior 10 km race. The young Italian took the lead from the opening lap and started to disappear from his rivals as early as the fourth kilometre. His lead grew rapidly as the race went on until he stopped at a minute and a half ahead of the closest competitor. Disabato went on to set a national U20 record of 39:28, breaking not only the best performance in the short history of the European Championships, but also the previous European Cup.

The Italians dominated the race almost perfectly, with Alessio Coppola third in 41:09 and Nicolo' Vidal fourth (41:22), both in personal bests. A team triumph was thus a given (two athletes count fot classification in the U20), even though the great Spanish rivals - silver medallists in the end - did their best. Joan Querol Serrano broke through to second midway through the race and never let go (40:58), with Pablo González grabbing fifth (41:30) at the end. The young Ukrainians added another team bronze.

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Alessia Cristina Pop was active in the early kilometres of the 10k junior women's race, but the Romanian was eventually unable to keep up the pace in the second half and finished sixth (albeit with a PB of 45:08). Another competitor who was very visible at the front was Chloe Le Roch, but even this young Frenchwoman did not win. However, a personal best of 44:02 earned her second place.

Sofia Santarescu shone even more in Poděbrady. The Spaniard took the lead at the 7th km and then, despite Le Roch's best efforts, she didn't let anyone get ahead of her. With a time of 43:57 she knocked a minute and 20 seconds off her previous best, also the best performance since the European Cup turned into the European Championships (previous CR by Eliška Martínková 45:46). Italy's Serena di Fabio came in for third place, also enjoying a personal best of 44:08 alongside her medal.

The team competition belonged to the Spanish women. Santerescu and her teammate Claudia Ventura, finishing fifth, clearly won ahead of the French and Italian women.

Michal Procházka for ERWTCh