Edoardo Affini beats Stefan Küng and Mattia Cattaneo to win time-trial European Championships

Edoardo Affini is a strong time-trial but in recent months has struggled against the clock. Even as recently at Sunday he had disappointing performances in the time-trials but today he showed his very best level to win at the European Championships ahead of Stefan Küng.

After Lotte Kopecky took the victory in the women's race, it had become obvious that effort management would be key. The flat route hid the fact that the strong wind made it important to have a set pacing strategy.

Thymen Arensman put on a strong early time at the finish line contesting for the medals, after finishing third in the first intermediate only behind teammate Daan Hoole and Stefan Küng who carried a 9-second lead.

The results at the second intermediate point changed everything however. Edoardo Affini was now the leader going through the split with less than a second over Stefan Küng and 15 over Mattia Cattaneo. The Italians overtook the Dutchmen and were now in active fight for all the medals.

Affini crossed the line and removed 53 seconds off of Arensman's lead and placed himself as the man to beat. Daan Hoole crossed it 26 behind, a strong time that would put him in the fight for a medal. Mattia Cattaneo 19 seconds behind and Stefan Küng... 9 seconds behind. Mikkel Bjerg and Stefan Bissegger finished after but weren't able to break into the podium; which means Affini was able to take the triumph and take a new jersey.

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