Kuldīga cyclist Ģirts Vēvers ends amateur road season with European Championships bronze

Ģirts Vēvers, a cyclist from Kuldīga in Latvia, has ended his amateur road cycling season in the M50–54 age group with a bronze medal in the individual race at the European Championships in Italy. Before that, at the World Championships in Japan, he took bronze in the individual race and fifth place in the group race. In an interview with the regional outlet Kurzemnieks.lv, he spoke about the season, his training and plans for next year.

European Championships in Italy

Vēvers describes the trip to Italy as fairly spontaneous: the start was not a target on the calendar at the beginning of the season. After returning from Japan, he and teammates Dzintars Ausmanis and Jānis Sala decided to add one more race, since they had already qualified. The course was complicated and technical, and live traffic prevented him from learning it in advance. He also briefly went off course in the opening section. The fourth-placed rider, who had been second in Japan, finished only four seconds behind him.

World Championships in Japan

Vēvers had three starts in Japan. Latvian amateur cyclists took part in the relay for the first time and finished ninth among 26 national teams. The team was Aleksandrs Zavoloks, Anita Antone, Vēvers and Ausmanis. Poland won, France was second and Canada third. Vēvers believes the chosen rider order may have cost the team a chance at a higher place.

On the way to Niseko the group flew via Finland, Tokyo and Sapporo. In Tokyo, an earthquake of about magnitude 5.8 woke them during the night.

Training and next goals

There are no mountains around Kuldīga, so training relies on power measurements and varied effort that imitates climbs. Vēvers stresses discipline over motivation alone. His main goal for next year is the World Championships in France, where elite riders will compete alongside amateurs. In 2023 in Scotland, in a similar format, he became world champion.

Vēvers also develops the Goldingen Cycling Team club, which this year organised an individual race in Pelči with about 100 participants. His son Edvards is working towards professional cycling and will train in Spain over the winter.