The storm before the storm. Germany returned to the World Cup circuit not only as a key stop but as the host of the European Championship, setting the stage for the region’s biggest race and the final Full Distance showdown before the series’ Short Track finale in Molveno, Italy.
After a year away from the World Cup, Zittau returned bigger and with even higher stakes. It marked 25 years of the O-SEE Challenge and did so as host of the region’s most prestigious event. The European Championship has long been seen as a dress rehearsal for the World Championship thanks to the depth of talent it attracts. This year it carried even more weight as both the final Full Distance race of the World Cup series and the last chance for athletes to sharpen their form before the World Championship.
The start list looked almost identical to that of a World Championship, with nearly every recent World Champion, European Champion, and World Cup winner ready to do battle. The women’s field drew the spotlight, shaped by Alizée Paties’s absence with injury, the surprise entry of World Champion Solenne Billouin, and the season debut of reigning European Champion Loanne Duvoisin. Meanwhile, the men’s field featured every top-ranked athlete, injury-free, in form, and prepared to compete at the highest level.
After 2:37:48 of racing, Europe had a new men’s champion, as Jens Emil Sloth Nielsen strung together the fastest bike split and the second-fastest run of the day to claim top honours in the region and take maximum points in the final Full Distance race of the series. For the women, it was also a new champion, with Solenne Billouin adding a European Championship title to her list of accolades in a time of 3:08:55.
Seven stops down, one to go. The series now pauses for just over a month before the final Short Track race decides it all in Molveno.