Europeans 2011 marked the beginning of a new era in track racing technology. Matter G13. Released to the world only a month ago following many more months of R&D by our international racing team, Matter G13 took first of all Heerde, and then several days later Zwolle by storm.

Holland is famous for ice skating and. they put on a very professionally organized competition, using three different facilities. The track in Heerde is a change from recent years because its parabolic, and bare concrete. The road course in Zwolle was a mixture of long, fast straight lines, and tight corners. But the Dutch saved the best for last, a marathon circuit that was typically Dutch right down to the sections of “Clinkers”.

In Heerde, skaters on Matter G13 led the pack to several glorious victories, started on the first day by out PS/World Team skater Katharina Rumpus taking gold in the Junior Ladies Elimination race, right through to the complete domination of the Senior Mens relay led home by another PS/Matter World Team skater Yann Guyader.

The road in Zwolle was even more impressive for G13. Joseba Fernandez from Spain took an impressive sprint double by winning the 200m TT and 500m. Katharina took another elimination victory and our PS/Matter ladies dominated the long distance events with Nathalie Barbotin winning the points race and Sabine Berg winning the elimination. Also took lets not forget that Kalon Dobbin was making his debut as an international coach; leading his Swiss junior star, Livio Wenger to two gold medals in the Junior mens long distance events. All on G13.

When the Dutch organization left their best effort for last with the marathon course, so did Yann Guyader. After several medals in the track and road events he used every ounce of his tactical smarts to take an impressive victory in the senior men’s marathon. Out numbered by a very strong Dutch team, and racing against an exceptional Bart Swings, Yann found a clear shot and the finishing line and unleashed his sprint that had lead him to countless victories over the years.

Yann’s comment after the race, “The G13 were even really good in the marathon. I used a mix of F1 and F0”

Next up for all the PS/Matter team skaters is the World Championships in Korea, so that means that after a successful Europeans campaign, Matter will be looking for an even more successful Worlds.

Yann Guyader (France, Senior Men)- Gold- Marathon, Track relay

Joseba Fernandez (Spain, Senior Men)- Gold- 200m TT, 500m Road

Sabine Berg (Germany, Senior Women)- Gold- 15,000m elimination, 500m Road, track relay

Jore van Den Berghe (Belgium, Junior Men)- Gold 500m Track, 1,000m, 500m road, track relay, road relay

Livio Wenger (Switzerland, Junior Men)- Gold- 10,000m points road, 20,000m elimination road

Marie Poidevin (France, Junior Women)- Gold- 10,000m points, road relay

Katharina Rumpus (Germany, Junior Women)- Gold- 1,000m track, 10,000m elimination track, 15,000m elimination road.

Nathalie Barbotin (France, Senior Women)- Gold- 10,000m points road.

Mareike Thum (Germany, Senior Women)- Gold- track relay