Bronze junior Mats Vanden Eynde gives Belgium its first European Championship medal, dominant Agostinacchio takes gold

The Belgian medal harvest at the European Cyclocross Championships in Pontevedra has opened for the junior men thanks to Mats Vanden Eynde. The three of our compatriots took decisive control of the cross, but the Italian Mattia Agostinacchio proved too strong for the gold. Giel Lejeune (5th) and Lars Daelmans (10th) still finished in the top 10.

The Belgians were immediately awake among the junior men, with a trio that could not be beaten from the first positions in the opening round.

Arthur Van Den Boer, Mats Vanden Eynde and Giel Lejeune dominated even more for Belgium towards the finish of round two and ended up around seventh place behind them. Two Italians and an Austrian were the only ones who could go.

When some people joined again, it was up to the Belgians to separate the wheat from the chaff. Only Valentin Hofer from Austria and Mattia Agostinacchio remained in the wake of the still intact Belgian trident Van Den Boer-Vanden Eynde-Lejeune.

When entering the penultimate round, Vanden Eynde had to give up under the pounding of Agostinacchio. He did return in the company of a foursome. Everything to be done again with still nine medal candidates.

Once again Agostinacchio dazzled and this time no one had an answer in store, not even the Belgians. He started the final round solo with a sudden ten-second bonus.

The Italian bird had started to fly, nothing or no one could keep him from the European title. Behind it, Hofer slipped away for silver, but the sprint for bronze was a prey for Vanden Eynde. A nice reward for the strong cross of the Belgian juniors.

	Result of the European Cyclo-Cross Championships for junior men
1.	Mattia Agostinacchio (Ita)	in 40’13”
2.	Valentin Hofer (Oos)	op 8″
3.	Mats Vanden Eynde	10″
4.	Benjamin Noval (Spa)	11″
5.	Yellow Lejeune	12″
6.	Ettore Fabbro (Ita)	17″
7.	Cas Timmermans (Ned)	19″
8.	Son Ruesche (Fra)	26″
9.	Rick Versloot (Ned)	37″
10.	Lars Daelmans	38″
21.	Arthur Van Den Boer	1’27”

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