With a strong ride, Vita Heine took the fourth place in the individual time trial of the European championships this Thursday. After 22.4 kilometers, the Norwegian rider of Team Hitec Products – Birk Sport came only two seconds short for a podium place. However, Vita defeated some very strong riders. “I am very happy, even though I missed the podium with just one or two seconds.”
It was Ellen van Dijk who took the European title for the fourth year in a row, being half a minute faster than Lisa Klein (Germany). Lucinda Brand made the Dutch success complete with a bronze medal, but Vita was only two seconds behind her. “I will take the confidence that I got from this time trial with me to the future, since I beat a lot of strong riders and was very close to the podium.”
Before the race Vita wasn’t that sure about what she could do. “I was very uncertain about my legs, since I came directly form altitude”, she tells. “I trained well there, but the power on the hard trainings was lower due to the altitude. I was also very tired the last days here, but I did rest well the past two days. I am happy the legs worked well today.”
More coming up
For the women the European championships continue on Friday with the road race for the women U23. Five riders of Team Hitec Products – Birk Sport will start. Pernille Feldmann, Amalie Lutro, Thale Bjerk and Ingvild Gaskjenn will race with the Norwegian team, while Lonneke Uneken starts for the Netherlands. On Saturday Julie Meyer Solvang (Norway) and Lucy van der Haar (Great Britain) are racing the elite women road race.
Photo: Sportfoto.nl – The European championships are organized in Dutch city Alkmaar, that is also known from their mills.