In Albenga, the mini-World Cup parterre offered the most fanciful of shows, with very heated competitions and the enviable climate of the Ligurian Riviera.
Source: press release
The second round of the Italia Bike Cup Chaoyang took place today in Campochiesa, Albenga hosted the agonists and amateurs in a spring climate and truly sublime ground conditions. The International XCO Cup City of Albenga not only represented a great opportunity for the agonists to aim for the leader jerseys and the master categories to run and have fun on a track designed for major events, but also to be able to observe the first challenge with some of the greatest international interpreters of cross country on national soil. The mini-World Cup level confirmed how crucial it is in the calendar of the big teams preparing for the World Cup, a massive participation of riders from the biggest formations made the races exciting, fast and unpredictable up to the last meter .
All the trials enjoyed favorable weather, with spring-like temperatures and dry, flowing terrain. The modifications to the track, which had already garnered great success and appreciation from the athletes who had already passed through Albenga in recent years, made the individual races demanding even for the race leaders. Names and rhythms of the great occasions ignited an audience thronged in the most adrenaline-pumping sections of the track which boasts a vast observation area with very close points where you can move to observe the riders.

The day began with a large group of juniors who raised the first fuss of the International XCO Cup City of Albenga, a lot of quality with athletes from across the border and from Italy. There was no story for anyone when Gabriel Borre changed pace and wanted to put his mark on this test. After last week's second place at the Verona MTB International, he took the race head on, remaining alone right from the start and arriving with a 32” lead over Davide Donati. The KTM Protek Elettrosystem biker as well as having won today's race among the juniors, the first of great value among the juniors, has also conquered the leadership of the category for the Italia Bike Cup Chaoyang classification. These are Gabriel Borre's words after the finish line: «Today I made up for it, I'm very happy with how it went, I didn't know what the level was, I ran a few races with the French last year so today I didn't have great certainties. Wearing the leader's jersey is a great emotion, the first important jersey for me, now that I have it I will try to defend it as best I can".

After the interval dedicated to the master categories, the enthusiasts who love to have fun on the courses designed for the competitions of the great performers, it was the turn of the women's race, with a parterre with high-sounding names, led by the Italian champion Martina Berta, international athletes of the Lapierre Mavic, Orbea and Trek Factory.
Behind the fuss after the start, however, the brightest jerseys emerged first, that of the leader of the elite women's classification, Chiara Teocchi (KTM Protek Elettrosystem) and the tricolor one of Martina Berta, an all-Italian challenge among those who, however, are the protagonists of the competitions of the highest international level. Martina Berta (Santa Cruz RockShox) was chased in the mighty action of her by Giada Specia (Wilier Pirelli), a duel made up of raises, attacks and exciting sprints in the middle of the woods, the two top riders alternated in the lead until the final lap when Martina Berta accelerated further to enter the last descent alone, thus avoiding to get to the sprint against Giada Specia. Berta won the elite race with a handful of seconds up Giada Specia while in third position was the Dutch Anne Tauber (Orbea Factory Team) who chased throughout the race without ever being able to hook up with the leading pair. Among the under23s, the first classified was Sofie Pedersen (Wilier Pirelli) but no one managed to snatch the leader's jersey from the reconfirmed Tamara Wiedmann (Trek Future Racing).

Among the juniors, the other jersey of the Italian champion in the race Valentina Corvi (Trinx Factory Team) hits the mark, wins the test dedicated to the juniors and conquers the leadership after the second test.
Martina Berta's statements after the overall victory: «Chiara Teocchi threw the whole throw, then I entered first on the descent and with Giada Specia we made a hole, when I realized we could extend I kept the pace high, then I tried to extend a few times but Giada always came back, so I wanted to enter the last descent first. It was nice to compete with Giada but above all with such a high level in Italy and being able to have an important comparison even in the home races. Congratulations to Giada that she was super ».
Chiara Teocchi remains the leader of the elite women's standings, for her it was a race conditioned by a puncture that didn't allow her to play the race with the best.
International XCO Cup City of Albenga served its guests the juiciest dish with the most adrenaline-pumping event, the men's Open race. The mini-World Cup offered a great show made of ruthless speed, tactical management by expert riders and the most beautiful actions of a group of wild riders who set the crowd on fire with jumps, whips and overtaking at the limit.

The men's event saw the great international battleships compete against each other cross country with reference team members, various world medalists and former world champion Simone Avondetto. The race was soon defined with a small group of attackers who surprised the rest of the group, Pierre De Froidmont (Orbea Factory Team), Thomas Litscher (Lapierre Mavic Unity), Antoine Philipp (Giant Factory Racing), Sebastian Fini (DAN) , Thomas Griot (FRA) and again the big national engines of Daniele Braidot and Juri Zanotti set the race on fire and flames. A small selection took a sizable lead with Thomas Litscher, bronze medalist at the 2017 elite world championships, setting a monstrous pace however it was Belgian Pierre De Froidmont who delivered the heaviest kick, an action with which he amassed up to 36” lead, while behind two great players they were losing hope. With Philipp and Litscher out of contention due to two punctures, Braidot, Griot and Fini reopened the chase for De Froidmont, up to 25” from the former who however already had his arms raised. You never forget the first time and De Froidmont staged a memorable show at his first participation in Albenga.
These are De Froidmont's statements after the finish: «It was wonderful to win here, I had taken it as a training match but my legs surprised me and I decided to take advantage of the condition from the beginning to make the hole. I've always had a thirty second lead but it's never easy when you're alone, the first win of this season makes me very happy. I didn't expect this level and it was a nice surprise it's always nice to race with the best in the world, the course is very demanding, technical and steep, I liked it a lot. I will definitely be back next year."
In the men's race Mario Bair confirmed the best Under23 jersey, while the elite one passed on the shoulders of Daniele Braidot (CS Carabinieri Vittoria Olympia).
The first of the two days of the sporting event of the Internazionale XCO Coppa Città di Albenga, second round of the Italia Bike Cup Chaoyang, also positively surprised the organizer Alessandro Saccu: «We felt strong emotions today with the quality that we could observe of athletes competing, but also of numbers, it is also the good fortune to organize in a place like Albenga with a weather that has rewarded the day. The will is to grow constantly also with a view to the future, welcoming the great champions of this sport, today on the course he was also present as a spectator Nino Schurter, the Rosmarini climb already bears his name from today, it would be an honor to see him race on our track».
The leaders of the results updated to date are: Valentina Corvi, female junior (Trinx Factory Team), Gabriel Borre male junior (KTM Protek Elettrosystem), Tamara Wiedmann, female Under23 (Trek Future Racing), Chiara Teocchi female elite (KTM Protek Elettrosystem) , Mario Bair, men's under23 (Trek Future Racing), Daniele Braidot (CS Carabinieri Vittoria Olympia).
The next round of the Italia Bike Cup Chaoyang will take place on 25/26 March in Pergine Valsugana with the Bruno Alverà Memorial. In the next two weeks, however, it will be possible to see the highlights of the Verona MTB International and Internazionale XCO Coppa Città di Albenga events on the regional news.
MEN'S ELITE RANKING
1 | DE FROIDMONT Pierre | ![]() | ORBEA FACTORY TEAM | 01.25.41 |
2 | GRIOT Thomas | ![]() | CLLCTV CANYON | 01.26.04 |
3 | CARSTENSENSebastian Fini | ![]() | LAPIERRE MAVIC UNITY | 01.26.09 |
4 | BRAIDOT Daniel | ![]() | CS CARABINIERI – OLYMPIA VITTORIA CYCLES | 01.27.26 |
5 | BAIR Mario | ![]() | TREK FUTURE RACING | 01.27.49 |
6 | FOUNTAIN Filippo | ![]() | CS CARABINIERI – OLYMPIA VITTORIA CYCLES | 01.28.01 |
7 | FINCHAM Sean | ![]() | BERRIA VITTORIA FACTORY TEAM | 01.28.17 |
8 | ZANOTTI Yuri | ![]() | TEAM BMC | 01.28.32 |
9 | PHILIPP Antoine | ![]() | GIANT FACTORY OFF-ROAD TEAM – XC | 01.29.16 |
10 | LILLELUND Tobias | ![]() | TREK FUTURE RACING | 01.29.28 |
FEMALE ELITE RANKING
1 | BERTHA Martina | ![]() | SANTA CRUZ ROCKSHOX PRO TEAM | 01.09.13 |
2 | SPECIA Jade | ![]() | WILIER - PIRELLI FACTORY TEAM XCO | 01.09.17 |
3 | TAUBER Anne | ![]() | ORBEA FACTORY TEAM | 01.10.21 |
4 | PEDERSEN Sophie | ![]() | WILIER - PIRELLI FACTORY TEAM XCO | 01.11.17 |
5 | MARCHET Giorgia | ![]() | TRINX FACTORY TEAM | 01.12.11 |
6 | CORTINOVIS Sara | ![]() | SANTA CRUZ ROCKSHOX PRO TEAM | 01.13.05 |
7 | JOHNSTON Emily | ![]() | TREK FUTURE RACING | 01.13.15 |
8 | WIEDMANN Tamara | ![]() | TREK FUTURE RACING | 01.14.01 |
9 | TEOCCHI Clare | ![]() | KTM PROTEK ELECTROSYSTEM | 01.14.36 |
10 | LECHNER Eve | ![]() | TRINX FACTORY TEAM | 01.15.12 |
