Jasper Schoofs (18) won silver on Wednesday at the European Championship time trial for junior men. Our compatriot was in the spotlight for a long time. hot seatbut eventually had to yield to the Dutchman Michiel Mouris, who was seven seconds faster. The bronze goes to the German Paul Fietzke at 24 seconds.
Schoofs clocked in at 37:16 (average 50.4 km/h) after 31.2 km between Heusden-Zolder and Hasselt. “I had a great day, but just missed out on the win. I think I’ll have to learn to live with it, because I gave it my all. I didn’t leave anything behind, I don’t think I could have ridden faster. I’ve often come here to train, I’ve done everything I could to be as good as possible here. I wouldn’t have been happy with silver beforehand, but now I am. That medal is great. But of course it’s also a bit disappointing, because it’s only seven seconds at stake,” the eighteen-year-old from Kempen responded.
Striking: Schoofs did not follow the pace plan that had been worked out in advance: “I did it a bit by feeling. I had a ‘pacing plan’, but I didn’t look at it. I knew the points where I had to go hard, and where less hard. I knew that it had to be done by feeling. And that worked out well.”
The juniors, just like the elite riders, completed the entire 31.3-kilometre course later today. “A reasonably fast course, but also cool. It really only starts once you leave the Zolder circuit. The first part is mainly trying to stay straight, not to waste too much energy. The crucial point is the stretch against the wind. You have to go full throttle there, because that’s where the difference is made.”
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Other Belgians
Matisse Van Kerckhove (18) finished in sixth place. Aido Tailieu (18) was forced to give up after he fell and broke his collarbone.
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