The Olympic season has just begun, but Luca Braidot confirms himself as the No. 1 of Italian MTB.
Source: press release
After a 7-lap race on the challenging Pineta Sperane XCO circuit, he defeated the competition by arriving with his arms raised under the finish line arch.
There were 73 athletes at the start, and the trio composed of Luca Braidot (Santa Cruz Rockshox Pro Team), Simone Avondetto (Wilier-Vittoria Factory Team XCO) and Filippo Fontana (CS Carabinieri Cicli Olympia) immediately took off, thanks to a flash start by Fontana, who was very active in the early stages of the race.

The three champions continued by mutual agreement, increasingly increasing their advantage over their closest opponents, Nadir Colledani (Santa Cruz Rockshox Pro Team) and Daniele Braidot (CS Carabinieri Cicli Olympia).
An agreement which, however, fell through at the beginning of the last lap: at the sound of the bell Avondatto made a lunge which did not surprise Luca Braidot, while Fontana paid for a few seconds of delay.
During the last round the Italian champion's experience got the better of the U23 world champion who was 27'' late at the finish line. Fontana finished third at 1'17'', Nadir Colledani fourth at 2'06'' while Andreas Vittone (KTM-Protek-Elettrosystem) finished fifth, author of an excellent second part of the race, at 3'14'' by the winner.
These are the words of Luca Braidot immediately after the finish line:
“At the beginning of the race I really struggled to keep up with Fontana and Avondetto, so I stayed on their wheel where it was easier to find the best tracks and in this way I saved energy. In the last lap I was feeling good and I managed to make the difference. This Pineta Sperane XCO is a very beautiful course, you always have to keep your attention very high. I really didn't expect this victory and so I'm even happier. My condition is growing and I hope to maintain it in this Olympic season, which is very important for me.”
Matteo Siffredi wins among the U23s
The Scott Racing Team athlete made the U23 classification his own, ahead of the American Brayden Christopher Johnson (Santa Cruz Rockshox Pro Team) and the Colombian Franco Nelson Duvan Pena (Berria Polimeri) at the finish line.
Siffredi will thus wear the category leader's jersey at the next round of the Internazionali d'Italia Series scheduled for Esanatoglia on March 30th.
ELITE MEN'S RANKING

