VARESE. Alessandro De Marchi won the hundredth edition of the Tre Valli Varese, a historic classic on the Italian calendar, held on Tuesday 5 October. In the rain all day, the 35-year-old from the Israel Start Nation, who in days, perhaps hours, is waiting for the birth of his second child, wanted to give his Anna a gift in advance by winning a classic that repays him, at least in part, for the disappointment. tested in May at the Giro d’Italia when, after wearing the pink jersey for two days, he was taken out of the way by a terrible fall.
The Buiese, in great shape as he had also shown at the World Championship he raced ten days ago in Belgium, was quick at about forty kilometers of the race that started from Busto Arsizio and ended in a tough circuit to be repeated several times around Varese, to return to the group of fugitives that was characterizing the race.
It was an elimination contest. The Friulian, on the demanding climb of the track, accelerated, taking with him the former Italian champion Davide Formolo (UAE) whose presence actually “covered” the escape from the group’s return because the two big teammates of Formolo, Tadej Pogacar, moreover down in advance more than 100 km from the finish, and Marc Hirschi had no interest at that point in closing the gap. The two fugitives, at the end of their strength and certainly not war lightning in the sprint, then tried to break away from each other in the last kilometers of the race using the numerous ups and downs.
Nothing: we arrived at a sprint that De Marchi led to perfection by putting himself at the wheel of Formolo and easily overcoming him, finishing the race with his arms raised and with a scream that both smacked of anger and happiness. The experience gained on the track, we believe, helped him not a little in managing the sprint.
For De Marchi another pearl of a career made of sacrifice, help for his teammates, a lot of bad luck, but also good victories such as the two stages at the Vuelta, the one at the Giro del Dafinato, seven years ago the prize for best combative at the Tour de France, the pink jersey brought to the last Giro after a second place in the Sestola stage, ironically “very wet” like the three Valleys, but also the Giro dell’Emilia 2018. In short, for the “red of Buja” the classics Italians are the “house keeper”.
And on Saturday there is another, much more prestigious than the classic: the Giro di Lombardia. With that leg there, waiting for that phone call from home announcing the race to the delivery room is a good go. Third, the Slovenian Tadej Pogacar, the king of the last two Tour de France, completed a thick podium and one to remember for the Friulian.