The world championship adventure of Daniele Pontoni's national team begins with a fifth place in the Team Relay.
Source: FCI press release
At the World Championships in Hoogerheide (Holland), in the team relay now in its second edition after last year's test event, the Azzurri are the protagonists of an overall positive performance: Filippo Fontana, Tommaso Cafueri, Silvia Persico, Asia Zontone, Federica Venturelli and Davide Toneatti try to have their say, however being unable to do anything against the excessive power of Holland who in 42:05 conquers the first rainbow jersey of this specialty. Absolute domination of the oranges, who, being able to count on a very high-level sextet, simply made the void behind them, leaving silver and bronze respectively to Great Britain and Belgium. Fourth place for an excellent France, with Leo Bisiaux in great shape who presents himself at his best for the junior men's race.
The Netherlands imposed a decidedly high pace right from the first lap with Tibor Del Grosso, who at the end of the first lap already had a lead of around 6” over his pursuers, including Filippo Fontana. In the second lap Holland manages to increase the advantage over Tommaso Cafueri, overtaken before the finish line by the American English. In the third round space for Silvia Persico, good at increasing the pace and in turn overtaking the USA, then following Ville Merlov, with Sweden finishing in provisional second place. Fourth lap with Asia Zontone who records a competitive time, to then pass the baton to Federica Venturelli, at the finish line with a 45'' gap. So nothing to do for Italy, which with Davide Toneatti fails to recover positions in the last lap and closes the race in fifth place 20” from the podium.
A less brilliant result than the expectations of the eve: "We hoped to do more, but the sensations were good in view of the tests of the next few days" says Davide Toneatti, who tomorrow will be involved in the men's Under 23 race. And again: “It's a physically demanding course in which the legs will count for a lot: tomorrow will be a tough test but also partly tactical. We are ready". Silvia Persico echoes him: "I didn't think it was such a tough track: we were hoping for a different placement, above all for our morale, but we gave our best and for this we must be happy".
Tomorrow we start with the individual trials: first the junior women at 11:00, followed by the Under 23 men at 13:00 who will precede the most awaited challenge on Saturday, the one between the Elite women, scheduled for 15:00.
ORDER OF ARRIVAL
| 1. |  | NETHERLANDS | 42:05 |
| 2. |  | GREAT BRITAIN | 42:36 +31 |
| 3. |  | BELGIUM | 42:38 +33 |
| 4. |  | FRANCE | 42:42 +37 |
| 5. |  | ITALY | 42:57 +52 |
| 6. |  | UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | 43:24 + 1: 19 |
| 7. |  | CANADA | 43:38 + 1: 33 |
| 8. |  | CZECH REPUBLIC | 43:59 + 1: 54 |
| 9. |  | POLAND | 45:02 + 2: 57 |
| 10. |  | SWEDEN | 45:14 + 3: 09 |
THE PROGRAM
Friday February 3
12:30 Team Relay
Saturday February 4
11:00 Women Juniors
13:00 Men U23
15 pm Elite Women
Sunday February 5
11:00 Men Juniors
13:00 Women U23
15 pm Elite Men
