After missing large parts of the season due to an injury, the Swiss youngster celebrates a joyful season-ending. For Team Auto Eder, his gold medal is the third national title this year.
The first win of the season in the very last race – at this year’s Swiss ITT Championships, Nicolas Bialon from Team Auto Eder celebrated a personal happy ending. In the 15.6-kilometre U19 title race around Gansingen, the 16-year-old had the fastest legs and, with an average speed of 50.6 kilometres per hour, relegated his fellow countrymen Luca Bühlmann (+ 0:28 minutes) and Simon Wirz (+ 1:08 minutes) to second and third place.
For Bialon, the victory was a very special achievement. After a serious crash in April, the Swiss, who is competing in his first season in the U19 category, had to take a break for several months. It was not until the end of July that he was able to return to racing. However, since then, his form has been steadily improving. The Swiss championship title in the individual time trial marks his first win as a U19 rider.
Bialon’s victory further improves Team Auto Eder’s annual balance sheet. In addition to the two championship titles of Kryštof Král (Czech Republic, road race) and Paul Fietzke (Germany, road race), Bialon’s title is now the third gold medal at national championships for the junior team of BORA-hansgrohe.
Result
1 BIALON Nicolas 18:44 minutes
2 BÜHLMANN Luca + 0:28 minutes
3 WIRZ Simon + 1:03 minutes
Quotes
“I am very happy about this victory - especially after such a difficult season. After a good start to the year, I crashed heavily in the Italian race Coppa Montes in April. After that, I couldn’t train at all for two months, so it took me some time to get back into shape. Accordingly, the championship title is the reward for a long way back – and also a confirmation for me that I can come back to 100 per cent after a bad injury.” - Nicolas Bialon
“A great end to the season with another national championship title. After his bad fall in spring, I am very happy for Nicolas that he was able to show a top performance at the end of the season and win the title.” - Dr. Christian Schrot, Sports Director