The blues dominate the mixed time trial. The two in unison: “A unique emotion to win in the Azzurri jersey”
TRENTO. How sweet is a gold conquered in the blue jersey by spinning at 51.4 per hour on average among the apple orchards and vineyards of the Adige valley. How sweet it is to graduate European champions with four other Azzurri in the mixed time trial that inaugurated the continental tests in Trento after a troubled season. Elena Cecchini and Alesssandro De Marchi made it. Together with Marta Cavalli, Matteo Sobrero, Filippo Ganna and Elisa Longo Borghini, the last ones from Piedmont defeated the competition of Germany, Holland and France wearing the jersey of continental kings.
Premise, the European is not the World Cup, in three weeks in Flanders in the world championship the competition will be much fiercer, but the victory of the Azzurri was clear.
The men do their duty, on the racy track around Trento, devouring the 22 km in 24’10 “at an average of 55 km / h. The trend had already been positive in the intermediate after 11 km, in the middle of the race the AirGanna train, which lost the De Marchi locomotive as planned around the last km, left the girls a 27 “treasure on Holland and Germany and 33 ”over France. Good, but not reassuring given the well-known attitude of orange and Teutonic in the races against time.
But Elena and her companions immediately appeared very concentrated and compact in the action, they never disunited, also increasing the advantage in the intermediate and closing with a 20 “advantage over the Germans, silver, and 26” over the Dutch. Total time 51’59 ”at an average of 51,400 km / h.
A capital test for Elena Cecchini, who appeared in difficulty yesterday only in untying the braid once the helmet was removed before the awards ceremony. The smile and the hymn sung at the top of their voices said everything about her happiness before the inevitable dad Luca, emblem of the hundreds of volunteers who have always kept cycling Friulian on their feet, joined her to deliver the inevitable flag with the Friulian couple. ‘eagle for the usual photo. «It was wonderful there were so many people, we heard the roar of the public when we realized we had won – he said -. After the good performance of the men we had a great responsibility: a perfect linear race, it is not easy to find such a feeling because we had only trained one day together. I’m happy. Will it also be a World Sextet? I hope so”.
It was not an easy season for her, in February her boyfriend Elia Viviani (three years at Ineos, signing shortly) ends up in hospital for arrhythmias, in the new team the Dutch Sd Worx the competition is very high, runs little, loses the Olympic train . But when she sees blue, the girl from Mereto di Tomba regenerates herself.
And De Marchi? Two days in the pink jersey at the Giro for the 35-year-old from Israel, then the bad fall, the stop, the recovery, the Olympics in smoke. The return, yet another, and the revenge. Trentino afternoon full behind TopGanna included. «It was as hard as I imagined, but we got the strategy right: to earn as much as possible in the first part. Of course, having Ganna helps, when you run close to it you make yourself withhow strong it is. I thought that once again holding on pays off. Four months ago the fall, now I’m here. Head straight to the World Cup also online, by coach Davide Cassani, since 2014 he has been a praetorian and then his agenda at the end of the month is full, his Anna at that time will give him the second child. In short, the Friulian cycling summer is still tinged with gold. Jonathan Milan had started with Ganna and the quartet in Tokyo, continue “Ele e Ale” at the European Championships. Which is not the World Cup, God forbid. But the sweet sound of the Mameli Hymn, wonderfully inflated this summer, also has a rejuvenating flavor.