The big surprise for the entire circus was the return of Davide Palazzari and Eleonora Farina, who proved to be still very competitive! Loris Revelli achieved an excellent result, having been the fastest on the beautiful Valtellinese track since the trials.
Source: press release
In front of a large crowd and on the slopes that just a few months ago were the protagonists of the Winter Olympics, three days of challenging, intense competition took place, full of twists and turns, where nothing was ever taken for granted.
3 days dedicated to the great off-road bike, where the downhill It has proven to be a great showcase for the two-wheeled world.
On Friday, everything went well during the trials, and the more than 230 participating athletes took to the beautiful, renovated Bormio course, which descended from an altitude of 2.700 meters to 2.000 meters, where the race finish line was set up.
The Bormio Bike Park team did a fantastic job creating a spectacular, fast, and technical trail that showcased everyone's riding skills. The top-level athletes all enjoyed the course, while the younger riders had the opportunity to improve their technique and skills, thanks to being able to ride alongside top athletes on the same race course. They learned a lot, seeing all the best lines, and gaining a deeper understanding of what it takes to grow professionally and technically, all starting on Friday morning during the track walk.
On Saturday morning, free practice sessions continued, while the classification heats took place in the afternoon. This provided the first timelines, and we witnessed a truly perfect run by the great Loris Revelli of Team Bike Center Cimone, the only rider to clock under 4 minutes. It was an incredible, impressive time, one no one would have expected given the length of the track and its many technical sections, especially the first "wall" after the start.
But even the weather has been the real variable of this weekend of races since the first days, with heavy rains and thunderstorms, and so on Sunday on race day it tried to play a bad joke on everyone, but it did not take into account the great staff present coordinated by Sport Inside/Downhill Italy and the FCI/UCI judges in total and harmonious agreement with the Bike Park managers, who were able to perfectly manage the wind, the rain, the cold and the dangers that also led to a temporary block of the chairlift due to adverse weather conditions, all this shortly before the start of the descents of the "International Women".
But let's get to the results of the match, which started at 12:00 on Sunday 2 August:
Zaira Shah (of the Rostese cycling team) won among the female rookies, while among the males the Israeli Ben Carmel preceded Luca Foppoli and Gabriel Migazzi (both from the Black Crew).
The Amateur category remains among the most numerous and in the overall ranking the fastest were Luca Roncolato (of the Team Bike and Soul Gravity Division), followed by Marco Scheriau (Jam's Bike Team Buja) and William Bortoloso (Team Shredders Collective), while in the Elite Sport Marco Parodi (Ridewill Factory Team) stopped the clock in first place, leaving behind Marco De Paul (Team 4T-Project Lordgun Virtuous) and Riccardo Picciuto (Team All Bike Project). Among the women's Masters, however, Chiara Pastore (Team Bike and Soul Gravity Division) won perfectly ahead of Tiziana T. Finocchio (Team Honda Downhillher BMT SantaCruz) and Lisa Sovran (Team RRR).
The girls students saw the excellent Israeli Oryah Raz win by a margin over Martina Spinello (Team Honda Downhillher BMT SantaCruz) and Irene Bergamaso (Team Black Crew).
Among the students, however, the very strong Michael Rinaldi (Team Black Crew) was able to demonstrate his abilities by winning and leaving behind the Swiss Oscar Toniolo and Emanuele Foresti (Team Oxygen Bike).
Immediately after the students' descents, a very strong wind began, forcing the race directors to temporarily interrupt the competition. Thanks to perfect coordination between the FCI and UCI judges, the DOF, and the organizers, supported by the bike park managers, all the right decisions were made calmly, albeit in hectic moments. When the wind died down and the skies cleared, allowing the storm to pass, the descents were resumed safely, and the competitive women enjoyed a splendid Eleonora Farina (Team Tub Racing) stopped the clock at the best overall time, ahead of the Italian champion Veronika Widmann (Team Unno After Skull – Rogue Racing – DH Team Alto Adige SudTirol) and Eleonora Guglielmi (Team Ridewill – Bike Center Cimone).
Lastly, the spectacular riders of the Men's Open, which saw at least 10 athletes competing for the podium and which saw an excellent Loris Revelli (Team Ridewill – Bike Center Cimone) who further improved his already splendid time from Saturday, followed by the returning Davide Palazzari (Team Unno Factory – After Skull – Rogue Racing) and the Argentine Gonzalo Gajdosech (Team Black Crew).
But the battle between the big names was very close and even enduro rider Tommaso Calonaci (Otto Racing Bike), who finished fourth, left nothing to chance and we will certainly see him again among the great downhillers in the future. Behind him crossed the finish line riders of the caliber of Davide Cappello (Team Ridewill – Bike Center Cimone) and Jan Laner (Team Black Crew), who all arrived within a few seconds of each other, although only Revelli and Palazzari dipped under 4 minutes.
The Italian Cup now takes place in Sestriere on August 22nd and 23rd, before concluding with the Internazionali d'Italia – RIDER CUP in Madesimo on September 4th, 5th, and 6th.
The Bormio stage also crowned the Lombardy DH Regional Champions, in the presence of Norma Fumagalli, head of the regional sector in the FCI.
