2008 European Championships

 

May 3-5 Weiterstadt, Germany

Images: Billy Wright

Euro racing just gets hotter every year and this year's 3 days of racing were no exception. Abbie Taylor 15, was in dominating form on Sunday, but left too much to do in the final, but still came back well to snatch 2nd place. Abbie's younger sister Chloe also rode her socks off and came home with a 5th place.

Someone with the confidence to do well against the odds is 25-29 rider Marco Dell'Isola. Despite the competition, Marco did the business and came home with 4th place. Expect more of the same from Marco at the World Championships in China in a few weeks.

Alan Hill, a double European Champion from 2006 still pulls in consistent performances. In 30+, Alan just missed out on a final spot, but did the business on his Cruiser bringing home 5th spot despite nearly looping out on the first jump.

Other good rides worth a mention came from Cameron Howard and Ryan Stack in the 13 years class. Both made the semi final with Cameron taking the unlucky number 5 spot. In 30+ men, it wasn't just Alan Hill missing a final spot, Shaun Andrews and Andy Shaw also missed out at the semi final stage.

Elite riders Kelvin Batey and Liam Phillips were on the bubble and pulling in great performances against huge numbers. Liam managed 2 quarter finals and whilst Kelvin went one better on the Sunday and made the semi-final. Make no mistake though, given a better rub of the green, both our boys could have been in the final.

For race videos, go to: www.bmx2day.com or www.schijfbmx.nl

For full results, go to: www.uecbmx.com

Just to show the dominance of the French and the Dutch, see below for the winners table. Take away all the Dutch and French winners and in most cases it was a Dutch or French rider in 2nd spot.

 

2008 European Champions

01 - Cruiser 13/14 SOENEN William  France
02 - Cruiser 15/16 ANDRE Sylvain  France
03 - Cruiser 17/18 CHOUET Kevin  France
08 - Boy 09  BUTHOD VILLIEN Kilian France
12 - Boy 11  CHAPELLE Th鯦nbsp; France
13 - Girl 12  LAJMI M駡ne   France
14 - Boy 12  JACQUIER Mathieu  France
18 - Boy 14  DAVID Baptiste  France
22 - Boy 16  ANDRE Sylvain  France
24 - Men 17/24  DEMARIA Adrien  France
Elite Men Cruiser HAMON Thomas  France
Elite Women  LE CORGUILLE La봩tia  France
Elite Women Cruiser CONVERT Cyrielle  France
Junior Men Cruiser DAUDET Joris   France
Junior Women  AILLOUD Eva   France
04 - Cruiser 19/29 VERRIJT Niels   Nederland
05 - Cruiser 30/39 VAN BRUSSEL Harm  Nederland
06 - Cruiser 40+  COSIJNSE Wilco  Nederland
09 - Girl 10  SMULDERS Merel  Nederland
15 - Girl 13  GERRITS Tiffany  Nederland
17 - Girl 14  LIGTLEE Elis   Nederland
19 - Girl 15  SMULDERS Laura  Nederland
21 - Girl 16  HEREIJGERS Maartje  Nederland
23 - Women 17 + VAN GEMERT Angelique Nederland
26 - Men 30 +  VAN BRUSSEL Harm  Nederland
Junior Women Cr SEESING Joyce  Nederland
07 - Girl 09  PETERSONE Vineta  Latvia
20 - Boy 15  LISOVSKIS Klavs  Latvia
Elite Men  STROMBERGS Maris  Latvia
Junior Men  SKUJINS Toms   Latvia
11 - Girl 11  ZAMPESE Camilla  Italy
16 - Boy 13  GIUSTACCHINI Tomasso Italy
10 - Boy 10  PABIJANSKAS Gabrielius Lithuania
10 - Boy 10  CLAES Stef   Belgium
25 - Men 25/29  KREBS Milan   Slovakia