Crossing the finish line Leonie Daubermann raised her arms and celebrated as if she had won. The 16-year old STEVENS MTB Racing Team rider had another reason for celebrating since she had raced the European Championship course with lots of confidence that even a flat tire couldn’t diminish. ”Fifth place is perfect for me. To finish and to defend that place even after a flat is really awesome. I tried to go all-out, not to get nervous and keep my rhythm”, Leonie said in an interview with acrossthecountry.net.

During the first half of the race she was able to advance to the front up to fourth place on her STEVENS Sonora SL. In the middle of the third lap the rider from Gessertshausen/Germany fell back one position but she could continue to ride her own fast pace. All the other placings stayed the same just the time gaps kept on growing.

The race was won by Sophie Wright from Great Britain in front of Helène Clauzel (France) and Caroline Bohé from Denmark. Leonie fought a duel against Lisa Parsteiner from Austria who eventually came in fourth for the most part of the race. Daubermann previously had qualified herself for the participation in the Euro Championships on a well-received course in Jönköping/Sweden by finishing sixth in the second race of the UCI Junior Series in Montichiari/Italy.