Orts, Moreira, Feldhoffer and Novak, the experience of a European Championship

Two junior riders and two under-23 riders of the team participated in the last European Championships in Limburg, Belgium. Óscar Orts representing the Spanish national team and José Miguel Moreira representing the Portuguese national team in junior category and, in the u-23 category Bálint Feldhoffer representing the Hungarian national team and Samuel Novak representing the Slovak national team were the cyclists of the team who had the opportunity to learn from a new international experience.

The first rider who had the opportunity to represent his country was Miguel Moreira. The Portuguese rider took part in the individual time trial, a race on the same course as the professional cyclists, which was “a bit long” for the rider. Miguel himself explains: “This year I had the opportunity to do the time trial. It was a very long time trial and it’s a discipline I haven’t worked much on this year.” For Miguel, a light cyclist, who does best when the road slopes upwards, the road race was, in his own words, an attempt to survive: “For me, the European Championships, like the World Championships, are a race whose main element for success, apart from fitness, is placement in the bunch. Sometimes it doesn’t matter if you are in the best shape… the freedom of riding in these big groups conditions the results of many athletes and teams that don’t compete so much in this kind of bunch, but what conditions some, gives “advantage” to others. Like last year’s European Championships, I think this course was more for fast men, although if you look at the results of the category you can see riders who are not only fast, but also capable of fighting for the overall classification in mountain races, like the third classified, as well as the second classified, Héctor. As for me, it was a very tough day. Although it was a course that appealed to me because of the cobblestone sectors, I was discouraged by the huge amount of flat terrain, on which I suffered a lot trying to survive”.

Along with Miguel Moreira, Óscar Orts was the second rider of the junior squad to compete in the continental championship. Orts only took part in the road race, helping Héctor Álvarez, second classified. The cyclist from Alicante, a first year cyclist, had already been part of the national team in the last Nations Cup where, in addition to helping Héctor, he was able to shine on his own. He talks about an experience he will hardly forget: “I had the role of working for my teammate Héctor Álvarez, who finished 2nd, and I was giving everything for the national team until the second stretch of cobblestone, the most decisive one, when I was well placed and the chain came off, leaving me last and with no options to reach the head of the race. The sensations were good, but I would have liked to be further ahead and to have been able to help my teammates more. The truth is that as a team we worked very well and everyone had a clear role to play. It was an incredible experience that I will never forget”.

The u-23 riders only took part in the road race, a demanding event where they faced professional cyclists with a lot of experience in flat terrain and long distances. Bálint Feldhoffer, Hungarian champion of the category, could not finish a complicated race for him: “My race did not go as planned because I could not finish it because the pace was too high and the gaps opened up and I was left out and that was a bit disappointing”. The young Hungarian had already competed with the national team in the Tour of Hungary with professional cyclists in May.

Samuel Novák was, together with Feldhoffer, the team’s representative in the u-23 race. The Slovak, with a more climbing profile, managed himself well placed in a bunch that rode at high speed: “It wasn’t a great result. It was a flat and very fast race with an average of 47km/h with some cobblestone sections that didn’t suit me. I managed to stay in the bunch, tried to join a breakaway twice, but without success and didn’t take part in the final sprint. I’m already looking forward to the World Championships, with a course that suits me better.”