"It's been a long time without a victory" - Edoardo Affini turns bad season around with career-changing European Championships victory

Edoardo Affini is a tremendously talented time-trialist but recently he has struggled to get the results he desired. This Thursday would mark the 5th year anniversary since his last pro win but the Italian snatched the European Championships title with the time-trial of his life.

"It's a great feeling. It's been a long time without a victory. I've always been there. I've always done my job," Affini said in a post-race interview. "Today I started without pressure. The last three weeks have been a difficult Vuelta for me. One of the most difficult Grand Tours ever for me. On Sunday I didn't feel so good. It was okay, but I felt like I lacked the power to get a good result."

Affini has been close to taking wins this season but fell short by one spot at the national championships and Vuelta a Burgos. He had a strong Vuelta a España but his performances were most noteworthy away from the time-trials. In the first and last stage, against the clock, he was 5th and 12th respectively. Last Sunday he lost 1:05 minutes to Stefan Küng in Madrid but today he was 10 seconds faster in Hasselt, conquering a very important win.

This was a triumph based on strategy too, as Affini jumped from fifth (14 seconds behind) to first, from the first to second intermediate point. “My coach said it might feel better later. I started and, strangely enough, I felt quite okay. Now it’s hard to believe. I’m trying to enjoy it as much as possible."

"Tomorrow, I can achieve another good result with my national team (at the mixed relay time-trial, ed.). It’s great that my family is here, the one from Italy and that of my new family from the Netherlands," he concluded. This Sunday he will compete in the road race where he will be an interesting wildcard, as a powerful rouleur.