Mo Farah’s breakthrough year of 2006 continued with a superb win at the European Cross Country in Italy.
Despite finding the conditions were not his cup of tea Farah maintained his focus and composure then showed tactical awareness and raw ability to seal the win on the last lap. In the home straight Farah had time to celebrate what was a comfortable victory.
Farah spent a month training in South Africa in the build up to the race and the hard work showed through. Farah is only the second Briton to win this title 10 years after Jon Brown’s 1996 win.
Early on Farah found the course and flying elbows meant he was not able to settle into a rhythm so he decide to sit at the back of the pack and bide his time. Everyone saw six time winner Sergiy Lebid as the danger man. Mo said: “Lebid was not doing anything. So I said to myself, ‘I have to follow those other guys’.
“Then I found myself in front and said, ‘You might as well just push on’”
Fernando Silva tried to get back to Farah but it became clear the Newham & Essex Beagles star was too strong and had too much speed in reserve. Silva took second as Spain's Juan Carlos de la Ossa, twice a runner-up in this race, took the bronze.
Lebid could only manage 12th place. France took the team race from Portugal and Spain with Britain fourth position.
The women’s race saw Britain among the favourites for team medals and Jo Pavey expected to be pushing for a medal. Going into the last lap of the race Britain were in positions to take team medals but they ended up run out of the medals by the smallest margin – the medal decided by the position of the last finisher. Portugal’s Monica Rosa finished just one place ahead of Britain’s Kate Reed.
Pavey found the going tough and finished in eighth place. The race was won by Ukrainian Tetyana Holovchenko from Russia's Maria Konovalova and Olivera Jevtic of Serbia.
In the age group races Britain had more joy. In the junior women’s race Stephanie Twell took the title, aged just 17, and helped the British women to retaining the title. Twell came home ahead of Norwegian Karoline Grovdal and last year’s winner Ancuta Bobocel of Romania.
