Sulmona, world capital of Inline Skating

Today the competition moves to Sulmona, in the iconic Piazza Garibaldi, a unique setting that blends history and sport for the Road World Championships, where the sport of inline skating comes to the people, not the other way around. With the stunning medieval aqueduct as a backdrop, the location adds even more magic to the event. The Piazza also witnessed the epic 2004 World Championships, now, history repeats itself with equally epic races at breathtaking speeds. All the races were held entirely under the rain.

In the Junior Women’s 10000m Points, Valeria Bustamante, Ecuador, Camila Giraldo Vasquez from Colombia, and Sofia Schilder representing the Netherlands split the points, with a few other nations managing to grab some as well. The Dutch skater seemed particularly comfortable on the wet surface, but there was no stopping the Colombian, who confidently held on to her lead, securing the gold. Bustamante made a final push in the last 3 laps but couldn’t collect enough points to overtake the Dutch skater.

Metodej Jilek delivers a masterclass race! He starts off at an incredible pace, quickly breaking away from the pack winning all the points from start to finish. The real battle is for second and third place. Team USA pushes hard to catch Metodej, forming a chase group with Ryan Dawson and Ashton Hale, along with Arthur Lebeaupin ,France and Adrian Alonso Garcia, Spain. In the end, it’s the American Dawson who manages to secure key points, finishing with 8. Third place goes to the French skater, earning 5 points.

The race of the Senior women was quite intense from the start. A crash took out one of the two Colombian skaters at the beginning. Two distinct packs formed: one led by Gabriela Rueda, the other by Dutch skater Lianne Van Loon. The French team with Marine Lefeuvre and Marie Dupuy looked strong staying tightly together throughout the race. The race remained intense, with all the top contenders in the mix. Van Loon, one of the favorites, suffered a fall and was forced out with five laps to go. In the end, France took control of the final lap and Marine Lefeuvre won with a spectacular finish!

In the Senior men, we have nine World Champions at the starting line. From the beginning, the Colombian skaters took the lead, giving the pace. In the elimination race is always good to have a teammate on your side. The average speed was over 40 km/h, something incredible to see with wet asphalt. There were several falls, even involving some key contenders. By the halfway point, the Colombian duo Juan Mantilla and Kevin Lenis, Martin Ferrie, France, Jason Suttles, Belgium, and Felix Rijhnen, Germany were consistently at the front. With four laps to go, Rijhnen took the lead, but Mantilla made his move on the outside with just one lap remaining. He overtook Felix, leading to an intense final lap. They crossed the finish line first Juan Mantilla, second Felix Rijhnen , and third Jason Suttles.

The night wrapped up with the high-speed Junior 1 Lap + D final. Junior Women with Italy, Colombia, the United States, and Poland battling for the podium. On this 300m track, it was a race at maximum intensity right from the gun. Dairy Londono Cardenas of Colombia claimed the victory, with Alicia McBride from the USA in second, and Italy’s Asia Negri securing third place.

In the Junior Men’s race, Jacob Melton from the USA made a powerful move to take the lead and raced to victory earning the USA Team’s first gold of the championship. Coming out of the last corner, a crash took down France’s Noe Guyomarc’h and Colombia’s Santiago Vasquez. Luis André Aguirre Rehbach from Guatemala grabbed second place, while Guyomarc’h got back up to finish in third.