It’s already been a week since the 2025 European Championships in Lithuania. I look back fondly on a wonderful week featuring exciting races, top-quality courses and a superbly organised championship.
As for my own performance, the week was a bit of a mixed bag. As the Swiss team, we arrived a few days early, on Saturday, to train in the terrain, which was largely unfamiliar to us, and thus be able to finalise our race strategy. What I took away from these training sessions was that it is important to always stay on the map and never lose track of where you are, as it is difficult to recover your bearings in all these numerous trails.
On Thursday, the European Championships finally got underway with the mass start. It was a very cold morning. We were in for a race involving many challenging route choices, but also a very physically demanding one. For the most part, I had a good race. I didn’t get all my route choices right, but I imagine that was the case for a lot of the athletes. Technically, however, I managed to execute all my routes cleanly. So, although I hadn’t felt great physically throughout the race, I was still satisfied to finish 13th at the finish line on the motorway bridge.
Friday was all about the middle distance; the race started right next to the daily finish arena. I got off to a very good start and didn’t let myself be thrown off course by the lorries that blocked my path for about a minute. However, halfway through the race, I misread a junction and made a mistake that proved decisive. After that, I was consistently a bit too slow on the map for quite some time, which led to further errors and detours and cost me a lot of time. Despite a good plan, I ultimately delivered a very disappointing performance.
Saturday brought the chance for a rematch with the upcoming sprint. I stuck to the strategy I’d used for the middle-distance race and resolved to put it into practice today. The start section led into steep terrain and required good route choices. This was followed by a shorter transfer section into the flat urban woodland next to the motorway, where it was essential to be well prepared and execute the route choices cleanly. I had a good race and got through cleanly without any mistakes; it was only in the start section that I didn’t always take the quickest route. Nevertheless, I’m really happy with my 7th place, just 20 seconds behind the podium places – I’ve never been that close to one before; at least not when the world’s elite were all present.
The final event was, as always, the relay. At the European Championships, it’s always a mixed relay (2 men, 1 woman). I was lined up at the mass start for the second Swiss team (an all-women’s team). Consequently, I had to start relatively far back and was a bit boxed in at the start, but managed to work my way further and further forward as the race progressed, joining the chasing group on the final lap. There, I managed to break away from the group briefly at first, but then made a small mistake and handed over to the second leg runner in 5th place, alongside part of the group. Subsequently, we lost places to all the men.
In conclusion, I can say that I had an unforgettable week in Vilnius and learnt a great deal. I’m already looking forward to the World Championships in Poland!
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