It was a close, but in Belgian Limburg on Wednesday, Stefan Küng didn’t manage to reclaim the European champion title, which he already won in 2020 and 2021. After the 31.3 kilometres of the course, which was wet in the first half, the Swiss rider had to settle for the silver medal in Hasselt, ten seconds behind the Italian Edoardo Affini. This is his fourth medal in this event. It is now time for a few days of rest before the big appointment of his end to the season, at home, for the world championships.
Three days after his splendid win in Madrid, on the last stage of the Vuelta, Stefan Küng was already back on his time trial bike this Wednesday, in Belgium, for the European championship against the clock. The route was a little longer than last weekend (31.3 km vs 24.6), but it was also a little more technical, especially in the first part. The rain, which appeared at the end of the afternoon, did not make the task any easier for the riders. “The course was completely flat, which is not what I prefer,” Stefan said. “I prefer it when it goes up and down a little. It was difficult with the weather, but it was a bit the same for everyone, and I managed it rather well.” He managed it so well that he came out in the lead at the first timing point, with a gap of about ten seconds over his rivals. At the second timing point, located at km 19, things got much closer since Edoardo Affini set a time similar to his. The last twelve kilometres were therefore set to make the decision, and the Italian finally managed to take the best by ten seconds against the Swiss rider.
“I’m still confident”, Stefan Küng
“I had good legs, but it was not enough”, added Stefan. “It felt like I had done almost too much climbing in the last three weeks (smiles). I could not quite generate the speed on the flat parts. And as it was a completely flat time trial, it was difficult in the end. I lost the race on the second part, we will analyse how and why, but the clock does not lie so congratulations to Edoardo”. On the podium, Stefan Küng took silver, as in 2022. “When you’ve been European champion twice, you want to be again,” he said. “It’s a bit of a disappointment because I wanted to win, I wanted to take the jersey, but I’m still confident. The legs are good, and the big goal is in a week and a half in Zurich. I can’t wait to be at the World Championships at home. I’ll recover a bit and it’ll be yet another story. Sometimes it’s better to be behind in the rehearsal and take everything on the big one. Mentally, I’m going to keep the tension high until September 29. I’m very focused, and I want to do well at the World Championships, both in the time trial and the road race.”
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