The Bergamo native from Albino won the bronze medal in the Cross Country event reserved for Junior Women at the Mountain Bike World Championships in Val di Sole. Gold for Frenchwoman Line Burquier.
Source: VAL DI SOLE press release
The second day of the UCI MTB World Championships in Val di Sole opened with great news for the blue colors, which arrived in the late morning of Thursday 26 August.
After the lackluster performance offered in the team relay on Wednesday, Sara Cortinovis from Bergamo was able to redeem herself in a big way, winning a splendid bronze medal in the Cross Country event reserved for Junior Women, after having fought head to head with her very strong French rivals until the very last meters. For Italy it is the first medal at the 2021 Val di Sole World Championships.
Line Burquier added another gold medal to the one won at the recent European Championships in Novi Sad and the one won on Wednesday in Team Relay with her France: she is the new World Champion in the Junior Women category. Behind her, compatriot Olivia Onesti (+0.05), while behind Cortinovis (+0.06) the other transalpine Tatiana Tournut (+1.10) finished in fourth place.
From the very first rides, the score of the race was clear, with the French athletes in search of the most precious metal, and only Sara Cortinovis to interrupt this monologue. The blue fought against the transalpine squadron, responding punctually to all the accelerations of the rivals and in turn trying to counterattack in the uphill sections, those most suited to her characteristics as a climber.
“I am very happy - said Cortinovis. - I tried to win, taking advantage of the uphill sections but unfortunately I was losing something downhill compared to the French. In the sprint, I probably could have done something more by putting in some work, but I'm equally happy ”.
The burning start of Tatiana Tournut did not surprise the other favorites, who quickly returned to the wheel of the transalpina. During the second lap, it was Olivia Onesti who took command of the operations, together with Line Burquier - a fast ascent after a fall in the feed zone - and a brilliant Cortinovis.
In the third and last lap, the blue tried to make the difference in the most challenging sections, but France claimed numerical superiority (2 against 1) by winning gold and silver, the latter played in the last meters that they relegated Cortinovis on the third step.
For Sara Cortinovis, from Bergamo from Albino, born in 2003, the bronze medal is the crowning achievement of an excellent season, which has seen her collect numerous successes in the national and international fields. After the vanished podium in yesterday's Team Relay, a sign of hope for the present and the future came from the Junior Women, with two other Italians finishing in the top-10: Noemi Plankensteiner eighth and Sophie Auer ninth.
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