Stefano Bertolotti – UEC Press Officer
The BMX Elite, Under 23, Juniors and Challenges titles were awarded this weekend in Heusden-Zolder
(Belgium). After two intense days inside the Circuit Zolder, the Elite champion’s jersey was won by the Swiss
rider Zoe Claessens and the Frenchman Arthur Pilard.
A total of 818 athletes from 25 countries competed in the event.
After winning the Juniors European title in 2019, the Swiss Zoe Claessens came first in the Elite category
beating the French riders Manon Valentino and Tessa Martinez in the final.
The Men’s Elite title went to Arthur Pilard (France) who won after a fiercely fought race ahead of Michel
Schotman (Netherlands) and Eddy Clerte (France).
The Under 23 categories were awarded for the first time in Heusden-Zolder and were won by Nadine
Aeberhard (Switzerland), beating Indy Scheepers (Netherlands) and Eliska Bartunkova (Czech Republic),
meanwhile in the Men’s the European champion jersey went to Cédric Butti (Switzerland) ahead of Stefan Heil
(Germany) and Nathanael Dieuaide (France).
In the Juniors category, the titles went to the Dutch rider Tim Goossens who beat the Italian Matteo Tugnolo
and the Belgian Jools Melis.
In the Women’s events, Marianne Beltrando (France) was crowned European champion ahead of Thalya
Burford (Switzerland) who won the silver medal and Marie Favrel (France) the bronze medal.
Heusden-Zolder was also the centre stage of another «premiere»: the Team Time Trial European
Championships with the two titles won by France. In the Men’s, second place for Belgium and third place for
Russia, meanwhile in the Women’s the silver medal was won by Belgium and the bronze medal by Spain.
The next edition of the BMX European Championships will be held in Dessel (Belgium) from 8 to 10 July 2022.