Iúri Leitão will take to Portugal the first gold medal at the European Track Cycling Championships, in Apeldoorn, in the Netherlands. In Scratch, the 25-year-old cyclist, who competes on the road for Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, impressed and ended up winning by one lap.
Scratch
Scratch, an endurance race in which riders try to cross the finish line first, was fascinating. The initial shot had barely sounded when the first attacks on the platoon began to follow one another, one after the other.
Due to the fast pace, the peloton fell apart in the second half of the race. This created a leading group of ten riders. Tuur Dens, Hansen, Oscar Nilsson-Julien, Ethan Vernon, Rudyk, Iúri Leitão and Sebastián Mora, among others, were among the ten who took a lap ahead of the rest.
Fulminant Attack
Iúri launched a fulminant attack with nine laps to go, with no chance of responding to his opponents. Iúri Leitão crossed the finish line alone. Bartosz Rudyk, from Poland, and Tim Wafler, from Austria, completing the podium, in 2nd and 3rd place respectively.
Iúri Leitão had already given good indications, finishing 4th in the Madison, alongside Rui Oliveira. It is Iúri Leitão’s second European title in Scratch, having achieved glory in 2022, and the under-23 European title in the same specialty in 2020. The European Track Cycling Championships take place in Apeldoorn, in the Netherlands, between 10 and January 14th.
Watch Iúri Leitão’s devastating attack