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24.9.2026
Ferrazzi produced an outstanding clean run of 75.84 seconds, finishing 1.45 seconds ahead of Spain’s David Llorente. Reigning world champion Jakub Krejci was third for Czechia, with Martin Cornu and Olympic silver medallist Titouan Castryck completing the top five for France.
But once again, the fight around the qualification line produced one of the biggest stories of the session.
Spain’s Miquel Travé finished 31st, becoming the first athlete outside the 30 semifinal positions.
Travé recorded a raw time of 80.43 seconds, but a two-second penalty left him on 82.43, half a second behind Martin Dougoud of Switzerland, who took the final qualifying place in 30th with 81.93.
The result is particularly notable given Travé’s form this season.
The Spaniard arrived in Ivrea as the newly crowned 2026 men’s C1 world champion, although K1 is his second discipline at these Championships. His individual K1 campaign is now over before the semifinal, while he remains one of the major names to watch in C1.
For the host nation, the biggest story was at the opposite end of the ranking.
Xabier Ferrazzi delivered the fastest performance of all 58 starters, giving Italy its first heat victory of the Championships.
Behind him, Olympic champion Giovanni De Gennaro also progressed comfortably despite a two-second penalty. His raw time of 76.81 was the second-fastest of the entire field, but the penalty dropped him to tenth place on 78.81.
Tommaso Panico completed a perfect qualification record for Italy, finishing 28th.
That means all three Italian paddlers move into the semifinal, led by Ferrazzi and a De Gennaro who clearly showed that the speed is there.
For De Gennaro, Ivrea carries special significance. He is the reigning Olympic champion after winning gold in Paris 2024 and already knows what it means to stand on the European podium on this course, having taken silver when Ivrea hosted the Championships in 2021.
Jakub Krejci continued his strong 2026 season with third place.
The Czech paddler posted a clean 77.32, just 1.48 seconds behind Ferrazzi.
Krejci arrived in Italy as the reigning world champion after winning the men’s K1 title in Oklahoma City ahead of Michal Pasiut and Giovanni De Gennaro.
All three of those World Championship medallists are safely into the European semifinal.
Pasiut finished sixth with 77.81, while De Gennaro was tenth.
Czechia also showed remarkable depth. Matyas Novak finished 12th, Jan Barta 18th and defending European champion Jiri Prskavec 20th, meaning all four Czech starters progressed.
Prskavec may only have finished 20th in the heats, but he remains one of the central figures in the European title race after winning the continental crown in 2025 — his fourth individual European K1 title since 2020.
France produced another of the strongest collective performances.
Martin Cornu finished fourth with a clean 77.63, while Titouan Castryck followed just behind him in fifth with 77.79. Anatole Delassus qualified in 22nd despite a two-second penalty.
Castryck remains one of the most decorated young athletes in the field.
He won Olympic silver behind De Gennaro at Paris 2024 and followed that with another silver at the 2025 European Championships behind Jiri Prskavec.
With two athletes inside the top five, France leaves the heats in a strong position.
All three medallists from the Paris 2024 Olympic men’s K1 final remain in contention.
De Gennaro progressed in tenth, Castryck was fifth and Spain’s Pau Echaniz qualified in 27th after a two-second penalty.
Two years ago in Paris, they stood on the Olympic podium in exactly that order: De Gennaro gold, Castryck silver and Echaniz bronze.
The three will meet again in the European semifinal.
Poland also qualified its complete team.
World Championship silver medallist Michal Pasiut was the best of the three in sixth place, only 1.97 seconds behind Ferrazzi.
Dariusz Popiela finished 13th and Mateusz Polaczyk 26th, putting all three Polish paddlers through.
Pasiut’s performance adds another major contender to a semifinal already packed with World, Olympic and European medallists.
Peter Kauzer provided another reminder of his long connection with major championships and with the Ivrea course.
The Slovenian finished eighth with a clean 78.37, only 2.53 seconds from the fastest time.
Five years ago, Kauzer won bronze here at the 2021 European Championships behind Vit Prindis and Giovanni De Gennaro.
Martin Srabotnik, the 2025 European bronze medallist, finished 15th despite a penalty, while Lan Tominc took 29th.
Slovenia therefore joins Italy, France and Poland among the nations sending its full three-athlete group into the semifinal.
Mario Leitner and Felix Oschmautz both produced strong clean runs for Austria.
Leitner finished seventh in 78.09 and Oschmautz 11th in 78.83.
Leitner was European silver medallist in 2024 behind De Gennaro, making him another former continental medallist safely into the next stage.
Austria’s third athlete, Max Steinbrenner, missed out after receiving 52 penalty seconds.
One of the biggest collective surprises of the heats came from Germany.
None of its three athletes progressed.
Kilian Kaeding finished 32nd, Stefan Hengst 33rd and Jakob Ungvari 37th.
Kaeding missed the semifinal by just 1.01 seconds, but the result still leaves Germany without a representative in the individual men’s K1 semifinal.
That is particularly striking given that Germany won the men’s K1 team European title in 2025.
Portugal also produced one of the notable performances of the session.
Lucas Jacob finished 21st with a clean 80.84, while Frederico Alvarenga followed in 23rd with 81.36.
Both Portuguese paddlers therefore progressed comfortably into the top 30.
Great Britain qualified two of its three athletes.
Sam Leaver finished ninth with a clean 78.78, while Olympic Kayak Cross silver medallist Joseph Clarke was 17th after a two-second penalty.
Ben Haylett, however, received a 50-second penalty and dropped to 50th place.
Another striking result came from Belgium’s Gabriel De Coster.
The 2025 European Kayak Cross Individual champion missed a gate midway through his run and decided not to continue. It was perhaps the clearest example of how missing a single gate can completely transform a race in canoe slalom.
After 58 athletes started the heats, only 30 remain.
Among them are the complete Paris 2024 Olympic podium of De Gennaro, Castryck and Echaniz; the complete 2026 World Championship podium of Krejci, Pasiut and De Gennaro; defending European champion Jiri Prskavec; former European medallists such as Leitner, Kauzer and Srabotnik; and now heat winner Xabier Ferrazzi.
The biggest losses include Miquel Travé by a single position, all three German paddlers, and several athletes whose competitive raw times were destroyed by major penalties.
But after the opening round, the headline belongs to Italy.
Xabier Ferrazzi was fastest, Giovanni De Gennaro showed championship-winning speed despite a penalty, and all three Italian paddlers are safely into the semifinal on home water.
© 2021 ECA
