The world champion storms to gold in the time trial as well

On the lightning-fast Circuit of Zolder, the European Championship for Elite Women got underway. Over a distance of 31.2km, the search was on for a successor to Switzerland's Marlen Reusser. World champion Lotte Kopecky stormed to her first European time trial title in dominant fashion. Dutch rider Van Dijk captured silver and the Austrian Schweinberger took bronze.

On the snooker table-flat course between Heusden-Zolder and Hasselt, the European Elite Women's championship got underway at 15:12. Already at the first intermediate point, it was clear that the battle for the European title lay between world champion Lotte Kopecky, Dutch rider Ellen van Dijk and the Austrian Schweinberger. Kopecky’s time at the 10 km intermediate point was 13'25", with Schweinberger and Van Dijk only a few seconds adrift. The world champion continued to build on her lead towards the second intermediate point. At the 19 km mark, Van Dijk had already conceded more than 15 seconds and Schweinberger was also continuing to lose ground. Kopecky did not let up and she took her first European time trial title with a blistering time of 39'00", more than 40 seconds ahead of Van Dijk. Austria's Schweinberger took home the bronze.