The Italia Bike Cup first round gives great satisfaction to the Trinx Factory Team, whose athletes showed off excellent performances yesterday in Verona: the result for the team lead by Luca Bramati boasts a victory with the U19 Giorgia Pellizotti, a podium with the U23 Lucia Bramati (who wore the leader jerseys in their categories) and many other comforting placings.

In the women's race, solid performance by Lucia Bramati, able of placing herself behind the Elite Greta Seiwald and Giada Specia and finishing all alone in third position, wearing the jersey for the best Under 23: the regularity of the lap times and the gaps left over the opponents in her category confirm the quality of the twenty-two-year-old's performance. The second leader's jersey was won by the junior Giorgia Pellizotti, who proves not to have been affected by the hit to the knee suffered the day before during the practises: the sixteen-year-old from Treviso, after a start that saw her lose positions, moved up the group, finding the lead in the third of the five laps and quickly racing towards her first international success in her career as a biker. Seasonal debut instead for Alice Pascucci, who closed the international test in twelfth position among the juniors.

The performances of the men were equally brilliant. In the Open race, the belgian Sverre Van Lee and Elite Cristian Bernardi fought for a position close to the top 10, only giving in in the last two laps: they finished in sixteenth and seventeenth place respectively: for the Belgian the satisfaction of being second among first-year athletes in the U23 category. Forty-ninth position for the other rookie in the category: Marco Bramati, making his debut after the season in cross.

Excellent performances by the U19 Pietro Cao and Flavio Dispensa. Pietro Cao, making his debut after the cross-country season, managed the race perfectly, letting the four athletes of the leading group escape, thus managing his energy and authoritatively deserving an excellent fifth place. The competition for the young Flavio Dispensa was more complex as he started from the rear and had to navigate the traffic and deal with the length of a race that lasted almost an hour and a half at the end.

Statements

Cristian Bernardi: «If I think about where I was a year ago, this result can only leave me satisfied. Of course, the last two laps were difficult, also because I spent more than I should have in the first laps to recover positions, but I'm happy with how today went, also for the feeling with the new bike, which performs very well».

Lucia Bramati: «A beautiful race, in which I felt good feeling since the first lap. Considering the length of the laps, I managed my energy, overtaking the German Linda Daubermann on the second lap, earning third place and the best Under 23 jersey. Now, taking advantage of the cyclocross shape, we're going all out until the first World Cup round in Brazil».

Marco Bramati: «The first comparison with the Elite offers many emotions and experience. For me this will be a year in which I will have to learn a lot, also taking into consideration that I will have my final exams in June; in the second part of the season we will try to make use of what we have learned in these first months as Under 23s».

Pietro Cao: «Very satisfied with fifth place, for two reasons: the continuity demonstrated during a very long race and the feeling with the new full-suspension Trinx. Coming from cyclocross, I thought I needed more time to get used to the bike, but things immediately went well».

Flavio Dispensa: «The start was difficult due to a fall of the riders in front of me which slowed me down; I tried to move up the group but, once I reached 25th position, I paid for the effort in the second part of the race, finishing 41st; but it's okay: these are the first races in the new category and I just have to learn».