Zoe Claessens of Switzerland and Arthur Pilard of France grabbed the Elite Women and Men's titles at the BMX European Championships. ARCHIVE

After three intense days in the AGSM AIM BMX Olympic Arena in Verona, with 2054 athletes from 25 countries competing at the BMX European Racing Championship, Zoe Claessens of Switzerland and Arthur Pilard of France came out on top to have the honour of wearing the Elite Continental Champion jersey.

After winning the European title last year, Claessens beat Dutch champion Laura Smulders and Nadine Aeberhard (Switzerland) in the final. For Claessens, who finished second in the last World Championships, this is her fourth continental title, following on from the 2019 Junior title and the 2021 and 2023 Elite titles.

"I jumped the triple ... I had a few mistakes, but really clean —so, very happy," Claessens said later in an interview. 



The Elite Men's title went to Pilard, who beat his compatriot Mathis Ragot Richard and Switzerland's Cédric Butti in a particularly close race.

In the Under 23 category, reigning world champion Veronika Stūriška triumphed ahead of Emily Hutt (Great Britain) and Sabina Košárková (Czech Republic) in women’s. In the Men's category, the European champion's jersey was won by Alexis Pieczanowski (France), beating Dutch riders Tim Goossens and Jason Noordam.

The Junior Women's category title went to Anais Garnier (France), who triumphed over Spain's Carla Gomez and the other French rider, Meline Videlo. In the Men's category, Evan Oliviera (France) became the European Champion beating his compatriot Clément Rocherieux, who took silver, and Marc Luthi (Switzerland), who won bronze. 



On the final day, the Team Time Trial European Championship titles were also awarded to France in the Men's category, second place to Italy and the Netherlands coming in at third. In the Women's category gold went to the Netherlands, silver to France and bronze to Spain. 

The next European BMX Racing Championships will be held in Valmiera (Latvia) from 10 to 13 July 2025.