The cyclo-cross season, which ended with the title of Italian Elite Champion conquered in Rome and with the prestigious affirmation at the Guerciotti GP, gave Filippo Fontana the awareness that he could also compete in the top category.
Source: press release
Driven by the satisfactions gathered in winter, the athlete from Veneto, born in 2000, is preparing to face the first season of Mountain Bike among the Elites, focusing on the appointments of the Internazionali d'Italia Series, the circuit that has given him the greatest youthful joys.
Fontana will be among the protagonists of the seasonal debut of the Internazionali d'Italia Series on Saturday 18 March in San Zeno di Montagna (Verona), where the second edition of Pineta Sperane XCO will take place. Winner last year of the special ranking reserved for the U23s, the 22-year-old bearer of the CS Carabinieri-Cicli Olympia Vittoria is aiming for a prestigious result and forfeiting important points in this first round of category C1.
“For me it is the first season among the Elites, but at the Italian level I have been competing for a few years with the best of the lot. I think I will feel more the change of category in the World Cup”, explained Fontana. – “Last year I finished third in the general Open of the Internazionali d'Italia Series and I think I can make a further leap in quality, also thinking about the final classification. San Zeno is my first goal of the season: it will arrive after a long winter and a few running-in races, I'll try to get results right away".
In San Zeno di Montagna, Fontana will have to contend with the Rockrider Team led by the transalpine Maxime Marotte and with the best athletes on the Italian scene, starting with Luca Braidot, reigning champion of the Internazionali d'Italia Series and winner of two stages of the Coppa del World in 2022.
"The opponents are strong, but this is nothing new because the level is always high at the Internazionali d'Italia Series. In Italy, my reference is Luca Braidot, one of the strongest riders in the world, but I also look to Simone Avondetto, a contemporary of mine who rides very fast and graduated last year as U23 World Champion”, continued the rider from Veneto. – “Personally, I come from a fairly short but very useful cyclocross season also from an MTB perspective. I worked a lot on myself, on concentration in the race, trying to bring out that competitive wickedness that allows you to get results even when the athletic condition is not perfect".
"Now I want to focus on Cross Country also because this year the World Championships are exceptionally at the beginning of August and the results obtained in the central part of the season, where there are also two Internazionali d'Italia Series events in La Thuile and Chies d'Alpago, will be even more important to aim for the blue jersey. At my side I will have a well-organized team like CS Carabinieri and Shimano, the reality that has accompanied me on the race fields since the youth categories".
The Pineta Sperane XCO program, the first stage of the Internazionali d'Italia Series 2023, includes the Junior Men's race at 18, the women's competitions (Open and Juniores) at 10.00 and the Open Men's race at 11.45 on Saturday 14.00 March. On Sunday 19 March, the competitions reserved for the Masters and the youth categories Beginners and Students are scheduled.
