Rain in Germany suits Berghaus / Bianchi rider Jenny Copnall down to the ground according to her race report from the European Championships;

Hello All,

I have just returned from another successful weekend of racing, this time it was the European Championship in St Wendel, Germany, where I was in British team strip for a change!

I finished 25th after a gruelling race over five laps of an essentially fast course made extra slippy by heavy overnight rain. In the early stages this played to my advantage as I found the technical
stuff to my liking. As the race progressed I seemed to also find my climbing legs which was useful since the course featured a considerable road climb (grrrr!) each lap. In former years this used the grass beside but this year they went true tour style with names on the road & crowds splitting all the way up as riders came through. I think this race had the largest crowd & most vocal crowd all year & this helped me to keep momentum as the race neared its end. I was moving forward in the final couple of laps after a slow start not helped by the fact that I was on the back row of the grid.

It was good to race for GB again & to benefit from the enviable back up support that that entails. It was also nice to be first Brit this time out. With Caroline missing this race, Sue Thomas & Victoria Wilkinson completed the GB women’s line up in 28th & 30th respectively.

Now I have a few weekends rest before the National Series Final on 30th Sept where I’ll be giving it everything to defend my series lead & hopefully take my first National Points Series title.

Jenny