The first gold is here!
The German track women win in the pursuit and team sprint.
It was an epic competition in Hall C1 of the Munich Trade Fair.
Munich – At some point the naked eye could no longer follow this epic duel, the 1500 people watching the final in the track cycling team pursuit in Hall C1 of the Munich Exhibition Center looked at the video cube on which the green light was the conductor took over the mood.
Whose side it shone on was in front.
At the climax of the rushing run of the two women's fours over 4000 meters, the lead changed back and forth.
Sometimes Italy, sometimes Germany.
In the end, green stayed for Mieke Kröger, Lisa Brennauer, Lisa Klein and Franziska Brausse.
Halfway through, they were 1.4 seconds behind, the Italians sneaked up on the short 200-meter track in the rear-view mirror – then the counterattack came, it was in the thousandth range.
Germany won 4:10.872 to 4:11,
571 minutes.
The Olympic champion, world record holder (4:04.242 on the longer track from Tokyo, laid out with miracle wood, Siberian spruce) had to work really hard.
Gold, the first German at the European Championships, which was immediately followed by the second.
In the team sprint with three drivers over three explosive laps, Lea Sophie Friedrich, Pauline Grabosch and Emma Hinze averaged a good 57 km/h - so that you have an idea of the speed.
As hoped and expected: gold number two for the German women.
The men finished fourth in the team pursuit, as did Roger Kluge in the points race.
Question: When you're sitting on the racing bike, do you notice exactly how the race is going?
Franziska Brausse revealed that there was a clear signal: "Our coach didn't shout anymore, he screamed." Given Andre Korff's volume, the four women knew what was announced.
Brausse: "We trusted in our strong final kilometers." This option was available thanks to the preparatory work of Mieke Kröger, who had pulled the team a full kilometer.
Lisa Klein said that's how she stayed in the race, because: "I wasn't so relaxed, I got stuck because I couldn't train as much after a corona infection."
The joy was mixed with melancholy, since it was the last performance with Lisa Brennauer.
“It was a very special ending for me.
It's super emotional," said Brennauer himself. The passengers braided her wreaths of admiration.
Lisa Klein: "She's always there, has an answer to every question." Outside of the foursome, Lisa Brennauer can go even further at this European Championship, she has races on the track - "and we still drive on the road".
Mieke Kröger called for "a visit to the beer garden to celebrate Lisa's career properly".
The four pursuit women lined up for a souvenir picture with the three team sprinters.
Seven Golden Girls.
For Hinze, Grabosch and Friedrich, the changeover from the 250-meter track, which is used at major championships, to the 200-meter track in Munich was a challenge.
Because in the sprint, a certain distance is not completed, but a number of laps.
"That's 150 meters less for each of us," said Lea Friedrich.
"But we had the best time in each of our three races," explained Hinze and was happy about a new piece of clothing: "After the stripes, the stars." The world champions are now also European champions.