The three days of great mountain biking on the Alpago Bike Funtastic track opened with the Italian Short Track Championships which saw Greta Seiwald (Decathlon Ford Racing Team) triumph among the open women and Juri Zanotti (Wilier-Vittoria Factory Team) among the men.
Source: press release
The women's race was held over four laps of the technical Lamosano circuit. From the first few laps, the favorites imposed a strong pace: Chiara Teocchi (Centro Sportivo Esercito) and Greta Seiwald (Team Rockrider) led the group, followed closely by Lucia Bramati (Trinx Factory Team), Nicole Pesse (CS Carabinieri Cicli Olympia), Sara Cortinovis (Centro Sportivo Esercito) and Lucrezia Braida (KTM – Protek – Elettrosystem). In the penultimate lap, Teocchi and Seiwald increased the pace, opening up a gap over their opponents, with only Nicole Pesse able to contain the gap. The race was decided in a sprint, with Greta Seiwald overtaking Chiara Teocchi at the finish line and finishing ahead of Nicole Pesse, third at sixteen seconds.
“I knew that the strongest athlete at the start was Chiara, so my tactic was to stay on her wheel,” explained Greta Seiwald. “On the last lap I realized that we would arrive in a sprint, Chiara is fast and I didn't think I could pass her, I just thought about pedaling as hard as possible and it went very well. I'm really happy, the emotion is indescribable, this victory is really important to me.”
The open men's race was lively from the start, with a large group in the lead led by the outgoing Italian champion Simone Avondetto. Halfway through the competition, the Wilier-Vittoria Factory Team took the reins, taking advantage of their numerical superiority: Juri Zanotti launched the decisive attack in the most technical section, while Avondetto marked his opponents, allowing his teammate to create a gap. Daniele Braidot (CS Carabinieri Cicli Olympia) tried to come back, but paid for his effort in the final. The first to cross the finish line was Juri Zanotti, who took the title with an eleven-second advantage over Luca Braidot and Simone Avondetto, thus completing a podium entirely signed by the Wilier-Vittoria Factory Team.
“The course is very demanding, I knew the race would be tough. As a team we had three important cards to play: me, Luca and Simone,” said Juri Zanotti. “I was lucky because halfway through the race there was a slowdown and I took advantage of it by making the difference in the most technical point. Simone helped me gain that margin that I then managed to carry to the finish line. Winning the tricolor is always a special emotion: when the jersey is at stake, the heart beats faster. Being able to win it gives me great satisfaction, it repays all the work done and I am very happy to be able to wear it in the World Cup.”
Tomorrow, Saturday 28 June, Lamosano di Chies d'Alpago will host the fourth stage of the Internazionali d'Italia Series, with the UCI categories as protagonists. On Sunday, the young riders will challenge each other on the challenging Belluno track.
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