The newly thirty-eight-year-old Machačová had an excellent start in the 25-kilometer race with a total of 100 laps. When she first won the third and fourth of the ten scoring sprints and then finished second, she took the lead with a total of eight points.
“I had a good ride from the start. I went to escape right at the beginning, but unfortunately I was there alone and I was afraid, maybe I should have gotten more out of it. However, I managed to get some points, and that was good,” said Machačová in the press release of the Czech Cycling Association.
But then she came up empty five times in a row and it seemed that the dream of the first major medal on the international stage after the maternity break was fading away.
But then she triumphed after a long spurt in the last double-scored sprint and moved to third place in a very even fight for bronze. The native of Havlíčkov Brod, who won the third gold in her career in the mass race at the national road championship last year after the championships in 2018 and 2020, collected a total of 18 points. The fourth Irishwoman Lara Gillespie, as well as the fifth Polish Wiktoria Pikuliková, collected 11 of them.
“I didn’t let anything slip in the entire race, and the main thing was the victory in the final double-scoring sprint, for which I saved my energy. I had a debt on this track, once I fell from third place two points before the end, so today I corrected that,” said Machačová.
World champion (2013) and world silver medalist (2011), Machačová won her second bronze medal at the European Championships in the points race. Coincidentally, she also won the first one in Apeldoorn in October 2011. Even then, she rejoiced in her excellent discipline.
“Before the race I was hoping for a fifth place, I haven’t been riding very well lately, but in my situation no one knows which race could be the last, which always motivates me a lot,” said Machačová, whose first congratulators included her son Richard, who it will be fifteen months before long. “He was happy, he has a new toy – a medal,” added Machačová with a smile.
The 28-year-old Kopecká repeated her winning double from the European Championship in Munich in August 2022. She followed up her triumph in the points race, in which she only came out empty-handed twice in the point sprints, in the elimination race, in which she entered just a few minutes later. That makes her success all the more valuable. Also, a year and a half ago, she celebrated gold in both disciplines, in which she is also currently world champion. Kopecká has six gold and two bronze medals from the track European Championship
European track cycling championship in Apeldoorn (Netherlands): Men: Sprint – final: Lavreysen (Netherlands) – Rudyk (Poland) 2:0o 3rd place: Jakovlev (Izr.) – Hoogland (Netherlands) 2:0. ..9. CZECHMAN16. TOPINKA (both CR) both eliminated in the round of 16 Omnium:1. Hayter (Brit.)2. Larsen (Dan.) both 121 points3. Van den Bossche (Belg.) 118…14. ŠTEC (ČR) 22 Women: 500 ms with fixed start: 1. Marchant (Brit.) 33.3192. Kouamé (Fr.) 33.3563. Graboschová (Germany) 33.444…14. MIKŠANÍKOVÁ17. A. JABORNÍKOVÁ (both Czech Republic) both eliminated in the qualification Points race: 1. L. Kopecká (Belg.) 24 points2. Stenbergová (Nor.) 193. MACHÁČOVÁ (CZE) 18Elimination race: 1. L. Kopecká (Belgium)2. Teutenbergová (German)3. Roberts (Brit.)…9. GERMAN (CZECH REPUBLIC)
