Tonight many will be awake, since three in the morning in Friuli, to follow the arrival of the Under 23 National Team at the World Cycling Championships, in Wollongong, south of Sydney, Australia. Nicolò Buratti from Buttri, bearer of the Cycling Team Friuli, protagonist of an exceptional summer for results and continuity of performance, is one of the leaders of the blue team, directed by Technical Commissioner Marino Amadori. “It is my first world championship – recognizes Nicolò -: the form is good, I have prepared myself in the best possible way and I am confident in a good performance of my own and of the whole team”.
Davide De Pretto, Martin Marcellusi, Lorenzo Milesi and Nicolò Parisini are the other athletes that the coach has chosen to hunt for the world title, after already in 2021 Italy had conquered the Under 23 world champion with Filippo Baroncini, winner at Leuven, in Flanders. “Always sorry to leave someone out – explained Amadori – Busatto and Piganzoli (the excluded on the eve, ndr) have been shown to have leg and condition. But there are five of them and I think this is the best team given the characteristics of the course ».
The Azzurrini have been in Australia for a few days to acclimatise, acclimatise to the time zone and to test the track on which we are racing tonight. Seventeen kilometers, on a city course, to be covered ten times for 170 kilometers of the race: wide roads, fast curves and long straights that favor high speeds. On the Wollongong track there is a single climb, about one kilometer, going up to the top of Mount Pleasant, with an average gradient of 7.7% and a maximum gradient of 14 percent.
«The weather is not the best – Buratti updates again -: the race will therefore be even harder and more selective. You hardly touch the brakes and the difference can only really be made in the one climb. It is a World Championship, there are riders on the World Tour circuit, who should be considered among the favorites. However, many others also race in the Professional circuit, so much so that a tough race awaits us ».
The Italian national team perhaps does not have the favors of the prediction, but it is also true that already in 2021, on the occasion of Baroncini’s victory, the azzurrini were able to exploit their condition as outsiders very well. Tonight, especially in the event of a limited sprint finish, the Nicolò Buratti seen in the last month, with victories in series in Poggiana, Capodarco, Rovescala and in the Giro del Friuli Venezia Giulia Under 23 and elite, can rightly be considered one of the possible protagonists. «We will face the match on the attack – still anticipates the blue from Friuli -. On paper, someone like the Dutchman Olav Kooij, who runs and wins with the Jumbo Visma, is difficult to beat in the sprint and will have to be anticipated ».
Translated: tonight the Under 23 national team in Australia will try to force the pace, perhaps to generate a breakaway that will allow the Azzurri to select the group, keeping the main adversary sprinters away from the opportunities to win the sprint. And, if Nicolò Buratti is ahead at the right time, then you can try to dream big.
There are ten hours of time difference between Western Australia and Friuli. The Under 23 match kicks off at 1pm local time in Wollongong, then 11pm with us and the finish is expected four hours later. The U23 test will be preceded by that of the Juniors: in the race Dario Igor Belletta, Simone Gualdi, Federico Savino, Matteo Scalco and Giovanni Zordan.