CYCLING / PIVA TROPHY AND BELVEDERE TOUR
FARRA-CORDIGNANO
Without an audience on the streets, but with live streaming.
Sunday and Monday – in the red zone and closed doors – the world elite of Under 23 cycling will return to attend the ups and downs of the Marca for the glorious Piva Trophy and Giro del Belvedere after two years. At Col San Martino about fifty requests had to be rejected: 35 teams will participate, 18 of which are foreigners. The youth of the Jumbo-Visma, Dsm, Astana, Groupama-Fdj, Ag2r, Israel Academy stand out. All names that rhyme with World Tour or Professional formations.
At Villa di Villa, the classic Easter Monday rendezvous, more or less the same teams awaited with the addition of Germany U23. Treviso’s hopes coincide with Trevigiani and Zalf: Luca Colnaghi, two stages won at the last Giro baby, will be the beacon of the team from Porta San Tomaso; the castellans will try to shine with Edoardo Zambanini, the white jersey of the best youngster at the Giro U23 2020.
Among the opponents, the well-informed suggest to note the Swiss Alexander Balmer, 20 years old from Groupama-Fdj, a multidisciplinary talent in the wake of Van Aert and Van der Poel. And also keep an eye on the Spanish Juan Ayuso (Colpack), recently placed at the Coppi & Bartali Week. In addition to the inevitable break of Combai, the “little Liège” among the Unesco heritage hills confirms the tremendous tooth of San Vigilio, introduced in 2019: 600 meters with peaks at 20%; to attack three times, the last one 400 meters from the finish.
The next day we will turn to Villa di Villa: 166.8 km, with a ring of 9.4 km (incognito by the Conche) to be repeated 14 times and a final circuit of 17.6 km (double lap) inflamed by the feared Montaner ( from Borgo Canalet), the steep key to the race. Compared to the previous editions, the finish does not include the stretch of via delle Longhe: from the Montaner gpm you will have to face a 2.5 km downhill stretch and a 6.5 km flat one in the towns of Sarmede and Silvella.
As for the anti-Covid regulations, the Belvedere organizers have made a rapid test station available to the staff and accredited journalists in Piazza IV Novembre. The images of the race will be broadcast from 4.30 pm on the Facebook page and on the YouTube channel (live also for Piva).
“I ask the fans not to go to the finish line and along the route”, the organizer Gianfranco Carlet warns, “We have the last challenges of a long battle that we must win at all costs to get back to normal”. Colnaghi, 22 years old from Lecco from Trevigiani, is very motivated: «Doing well at the Belvedere is a prestigious result. A tough and high-level international competition, where many champions have won in the past. The crash at Coppi & Bartali forced me to retire, but I recovered and I want to shine: the goal of the year will be to return to the national team for the Under 23 World Cup ». –
Mattia Toffoletto