Fortieth and forty-seventh position. From here Gioele Bertolini and Giorgia Marchet took off in the Nove Mesto race, World Cup third round. But the two Trinx Factory Team bikers didn't want to give up and, lap after lap, they managed to get back until a sensational top 20. The first to sign the feat was Giorgia Marchet (in Maxime Schmid’s photo). Her first lap was super fast and allowed her to gain over 20 positions.Then Giorgia didn’t pay the effort and was able to keep the pace, ending in 17° position.
«This is my World Cup top 20 in Xco. That’s why I am super happy. My first lap was really good and my shape was perfect. Of course, in last lap I was done, but I hang in there and I reached a good result».
Difficult race for Eva Lechner who, after 24th place in the short track on Friday, ended Sunday's race in 33rd place.
Speaking about xcc, on Friday the track betrayed Gioele Bertolini (in Maxime Schmid’s photo),37th at the finish line. This forced him to start from the back on Sunday. But, like his teammate, Gioele did his best, with two first laps that saw him rise from 41st to 25th place. Comeback completed with the final 19th place.
«Nove Mesto is a track in which you can overtake and rise from the back, thanks to the uphills and downhills sections.I didn’t want to start too fast, so I decided to do my first lap without over-revving. Minute by minute, I found my pace, starting my comeback. I felt confident and comfortable both in downhill and uphill sections. We have done a further step forward compared to the first twoWorld Cup races».
But in Nove Mesto raced the U23’s and the juniors too, who could enriched their technical background. Among U23’s, another great performance for Noemi Plankensteiner: she sprinted from 33° place but she was able to overtake 13 rivals ending 20th. The 19 years old biker was the sixth among the first years athletes.
In the men's race, Filippo Agostinacchio finished 83rd, with Andrea Colombo 121st.
In Nove Mesto forest, two juniors raced too, in this case with the national jersey. Fabio Bassignana showed his quality ending in 13rd place, first among the Italians. Good placement for Valentina Corvi too. Valentina, in her first year in this category, finished 14th, fifth among the youngest.
