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24.9.2026
Titouan Castryck, Anatole Delassus and Martin Cornu completed a clean run in 86.30 seconds, enough to hold off Czechia by just 0.58 seconds.
Great Britain finished only another tenth behind Czechia, taking bronze in 86.98 and leaving the entire podium separated by just 0.68 seconds.
France entered the final with strong momentum after placing all three athletes safely through the individual heats earlier in the day.
Cornu and Castryck had both finished inside the top five in the individual qualification, and together with Delassus they produced a perfectly clean team run when it mattered most.
Their 86.30 was not the fastest raw time of the final, but it was the fastest penalty-free performance.
The victory gives France its first European men’s K1 team title since 2020. Since then, the title had gone to Czechia in 2021, 2022 and 2024, Spain in 2023 and Germany in 2025.
Czechia came extremely close to adding another European team title to its recent record.
Jakub Krejci, Jiri Prskavec and Matyas Novak also produced a clean run, stopping the clock at 86.88.
That left them just 0.58 seconds behind France.
The result continues Czechia’s remarkable consistency in this event.
They won the European title in 2021, 2022 and 2024 and had already established themselves as one of the dominant men’s kayak nations of the current European cycle.
Great Britain completed the podium with another clean run.
Joseph Clarke, Sam Leaver and Ben Haylett finished in 86.98, only 0.68 seconds behind France and just 0.10 behind Czechia.
The bronze improves on Britain’s fifth place at the 2025 European Championships and returns the nation to the European team podium for the first time since its bronze medal here in Ivrea in 2021.
With three teams separated by less than seven tenths, the final became one of the tightest medal battles of the Championships so far.
The home team produced the fastest raw time of the entire final.
Giovanni De Gennaro, Xabier Ferrazzi and Tommaso Panico completed the course in 86.07 seconds, 0.23 quicker than France.
However, four penalty seconds increased Italy’s final total to 90.07, dropping the team to fifth place.
Without the penalties, Italy would have had the fastest time of the competition.
The result will therefore bring mixed feelings for the hosts after another display of strong speed on the Ivrea course.
Austria finished fourth with a clean 89.51.
Felix Oschmautz, Mario Leitner and Max Steinbrenner finished 3.21 seconds behind France and just over two and a half seconds outside the medals.
Austria had won silver at the 2024 European Championships and once again showed strong depth in men’s kayak.
Germany arrived in Ivrea as the defending European champions after winning the 2025 title in Vaires-sur-Marne.
But the defence of their crown proved difficult.
Stefan Hengst, Jakob Ungvari and Kilian Kaeding accumulated six penalty seconds, leaving Germany 11th with a final total of 96.66.
It was another difficult result for the German men’s K1 group after all three athletes had already missed the individual semifinal earlier in the day.
Poland and Slovenia both showed competitive speed but were also hit by penalties.
Poland recorded 87.51 on the water, but four penalty seconds left them seventh on 91.51.
Slovenia was similarly quick with 87.83, but four penalty seconds dropped Peter Kauzer, Lan Tominc and Martin Srabotnik to eighth.
The Slovenians arrived as reigning world champions in the men’s K1 team event, making their eighth place one of the notable results of the final.
Spain finished ninth through Pau Echaniz, Miquel Travé and David Llorente.
Their raw time of 90.84 combined with two penalty seconds for a final result of 92.84.
The Spanish trio had won the European title in 2023 and bronze in 2025, but this time remained outside the medal fight.
The men’s K1 team final ultimately came down to fractions.
France: 86.30.
Czechia: 86.88.
Great Britain: 86.98.
Three nations separated by only 0.68 seconds.
Italy was actually faster than all three before penalties, while defending champions Germany finished outside the top ten.
But the gold belongs to Castryck, Delassus and Cornu.
France are the 2026 European men’s K1 team champions, taking the title by just 0.58 seconds in Ivrea.
© 2021 ECA
