#3 Italian Internationals: Martina Berta's ring in Nervesa della Battaglia

After San Zeno di Montagna, Martina Berta also dominates the Internazionali d'Italia Series stage in Nervesa della Battaglia (TV). The Italian champion (Santa Cruz Rockshox Pro Team) won the third stage of the women's Internazionali d'Italia Series with a display of pride that left no room for her opponents.

Source: press release

“I'm very happy, today I wanted to compete more with myself than with my opponents” – said the winner immediately after arriving – “I tried to set my pace from the start, starting strong as I usually try to do, I didn't expect to immediately gain a 15-20 second lead here, but this allowed me to better tackle the more technical sections such as the one in the grove. Then I tried to keep the throttle open until the end to prevent anyone from coming back, and it went well. I'm happy with how today went, I needed confirmation after the tests in Brazil and I'm very pleased to feel good again.”

Already at the end of the second lap (6 in total) the Piedmontese athlete had an advantage of over 30'' over Greta Seiwald (Decathlon Ford Racing Team) and of almost a minute over the pair formed by Valentina Corvi (Santa Cruz Rockshox Pro Team) e Giada Specia (Wieler-Vittoria Factory Team XCO), an advantage that only widened as time went by. Specia herself may have felt the effects of yesterday's efforts, when she won the Italian Short Track championship in Nervesa della Battaglia. The rider from Belluno was nevertheless the protagonist of a good second part of the race that guaranteed her 3rd place at 1'45'' from Berta. These are her words: "I'm really well and today I wanted to show it again today. Let's say that these conditions aren't really for me, it's something I definitely have to work on. But I'm very happy."

Greta Seiwald from South Tyrol also performed excellently as she never gave up after having paid in the first laps, arriving at the finish line in 2nd place, 53'' behind the winner. “The course was very beautiful but also very hard because of the mud, but our races are beautiful because the conditions are the same for everyone. I'm really satisfied because if you go fast on such a challenging route, where you always have to stay focused and never give up until the end, it means that you're strong in your head too.”

Thanks to this victory, Berta returns to the command of the Internazionali d'Italia Series general classification with 150 points tied with Giorgia Marchet (Ktm – Protek – Elettrosystem), 5th classified today. Lucia Bramati (Trinx Factory Team) follows with 116 points, Giada Specia with 110 and Sophie Pedersen (both Wieler-Vittoria Factory Team XCO) with 100 points. Everything will be decided in the last race, the one in Chies d'Alpago scheduled for June 29th.

The U23 ranking goes to Valentina Corvi. The representative of the Santa Cruz Rockshox Pro Team was the protagonist of an excellent performance which saw her establish herself among the Under 23s and finish 4th overall, thus also consolidating her leadership in the general classification. Lucia Bramati (Trinx Factory Team) finished 2nd and Marika Celestino (Scott Racing Team) 3rd.

Among the Juniors, Giada Martinoni stands out. The athlete of the KTM Factory MTB Team, leader of the general classification of the category, respected the prediction by winning the race dedicated to the Juniors. Second was Sabrina Rizzi (Jam's Bike Team Buja) while Valeria Terzi (Ju Green ASD Gorla Minore) finished third.

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