© Romain a Ketty Hankes
Luxembourg's top cyclists battled wind and stopwatches in Mertzig on Thursday as the National Championships opened with thrilling time trials.
The Luxembourg National Cycling Championships commenced Thursday evening in Mertzig with time trial competitions crowning new champions across categories.
Elite Women:
Marie Schreiber (SD Worx-Protime/CT Atertdaul) justified her favourite status with a commanding performance, completing the challenging 20km course in 27:55.08 despite blustery conditions. Nina Berton (EF Education-Oatly/CT Atertdaul) secured silver (+1:15), while Mäité Barthels (CT Atertdaul) led non-contracted riders ahead of Elisa Kockelmann (CCI Differdange) and Charlotte Wild (UC Dippach).
U23 Women:
Liv Wenzel (CT Atertdaul) claimed gold, with teammates Layla Barthels and Malou Bollig completing an Atertdaul podium sweep.
Elite Men:
In a thrilling contracted riders' duel, Bob Jungels (Ineos Grenadiers/UC Dippach) edged Alex Kirsch (Lidl-Trek) by just 3.351 seconds (24:09.92) to reclaim the national jersey. Defending champion Arthur Kluckers (Tudor Pro Cycling/VC Schengen) took bronze (+0:17). The non-contracted title went to Tim Diederich (Team Snooze) over Charel Meyers (VCU Schwenheim) and Tom Paquet (UC Dippach).
U23 Men:
Matthieu Kockelmann (Lotto Development/CCI Differdange) delivered the day's surprise, finishing just 13 seconds behind Jungels for gold. Arno Wallenborn (Tudor Pro Cycling/Team Snooze) and Alexandre Kess (Team Lotto Kern-Haus/CT Kayldall) rounded out the podium.
Junior Men:
Flavio Astolfi (UC Dippach) secured gold with a commanding 26:35.259 finish on the 20km course. Teammate Lenn Schmitz took silver (+0:35), while Lennox Papi (Cycling Team Toproad Réiserbann) claimed bronze (+0:39). Jonah Flammang-Lies (UC Dippach) narrowly missed the podium by one second.
Junior Women (7km):
Elena Lopes (CT Aterdaul) dominated in 11:18.142, leading an Aterdaul 1-2 finish with Lena Lallemang (+0:22). Kylie Bintz (Vëlosfrënn Gusty Bruch) completed the podium (+1:38).
Beginners:
The men's 7km event delivered drama as Dave Cichy (Cycling Team Toproad Réiserbann) clinched gold in 10:27.115 – just 1.9 seconds ahead of Yanis Molter (CC Chevigny). Loris Morbé (CT Toproad Réiserbann) took bronze (+5.2s), with Ben Koenig (CT Atertdaul) missing by 1.6 seconds.
June Nothum (UC Dippach) dominated the women's beginners' race (11:46.95), finishing over a minute clear of Amy Breuer (CT Aterdaul) and Chiara Christen (UC Dippach).
Masters categories:
Patrick Rauen (HIR Schuttrange) claimed the men's 20km title in 28:32.192, while Claudine Bintz (Vëlosfrënn Gusty Bruch) was the sole women's Masters competitor.
Races utilised 7km (beginners, junior women) and 20km (elite/U23/junior men, Masters) routes.
The national cycling championships continue this weekend with road races across all categories.
On Saturday, the action begins with the U15 race at 2.30pm covering 28 kilometres, followed immediately by the U17 event at 2.32pm over a 42-kilometre course. The beginners take to the start line at 3.30pm for a 60-kilometre challenge, while Masters riders conclude the day's racing at 6pm with an 80-kilometre contest.
Sunday's programme features simultaneous starts at 10am for both the junior men's 80-kilometre race and women's events, where elite riders will complete 80-100 kilometres while junior women race 60 kilometres. The championship culminates at 2pm with the elite and U23 men competing over a demanding 140-kilometre course.
The U23 category will not award a national title this weekend, as riders will instead compete at the 4-Country Championships on 6 July.
