VIDEO INTERVIEW: Felipe Orts settles for brave silver at European Championship 2024 - "In the end Thibau was stronger"

The 2024 European Championships have been very memorable for the sport in Spain. Felipe Orts, in Pontevedra, took a brilliant runner-up finish achieving a historic result for the country. In an exclusive interview with our colleague Rubén Silva, the 29-year-old rider talks about it right after the race.

Orts has granted our Spanish sister channel Ciclismoaldia an interview after finishing 2nd in the elite men's race, a result that almost no expert expected. In front of his home crowd, the Spaniard fought until the end for a victory that ended up being taken by Thibau Nys.

A: "The truth is that it has been a great race. I felt very good. I came to fight for everything, and I did. There were moments when I thought I could even fight for the gold. But in the end Thibau was stronger. In the last lap I was very, very tired, and the truth is that I was quite afraid of making a mistake. On the planks he took a few seconds off me, which was already insurmountable. So I think the result is more than satisfactory".

A: "I was going pretty much to the limit. The truth is that to maintain that small advantage of 5-10 seconds I had to risk a lot. I was touching practically all the fences. And well, I had that constant uncertainty of knowing that at any moment I could lose the race. That's why winning the silver is a great joy".

A: "Now I want to enjoy a little bit of this, rest a little bit because the beginning of the season has been intense. And then think about the start of the World Cup and Christmas, which is the next period in which we have to be in good shape."