The Azzurri coach Daniele Pontoni, accompanied by Massimo Ghirotto, sector manager, carried out an internship on the roads that will see the first Gravel World Championships take place on 8 and 9 October in the provinces of Vicenza and Padua. 2 planned routes, 140 km for women, and 195 for men.
Source: Pietro Illarietti / FCI
There was curiosity for this first stage where Letizia Borghesi, Barbara Guarischi, Chiara Teocchi, Ilaria Sanguineti, Luca Cibrario, Daniel Oss, Mattia Viel and Juri Zanotti were called up.
They will be the athletes (on Monday the convocations with the addition of other names for a total of 12) to wear the official Castelli blue jersey, presented in September. It should be noted that 57 athletes are also registered at the start of the world championship competition they had a wild card (40 males and 17 females to be exact). These are competitors who will compete with a national uniform, requested by the UCI, with sponsors of the teams they belong to.
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Here are the considerations of Daniele Pontoni at the end of the inspection:
"A very interesting stage in which we discovered the tracks for the World Cup, from Vicenza to Cittadella. We had both men and women".
The CT analyzes the path with clarity: "A challenging initial section with technical sections, single tracks and ups and downs. From km 35 onwards, on the other hand, a simpler terrain, with asphalts and fast dirt roads, where cross-country walkers will be rewarded and able to release important wattages".
The ending returns to be insidious: "We will have several changes of trajectories on rural roads that will take us up to Cittadella. For the males, there is a decidedly treacherous 27 km circuit".
Other details that emerged during this internship: "We figured out which tires to use, the right ratios and the right bikes. The staff must also be distributed along the 10 technical and food assistance points".
The Azzurri will meet again for the match next Thursday with the women, and on Friday with the men.
