Two weeks after the first European event, held in the woods of Nove Mesto, the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup returns to the Austrian slopes of Leogang. This is a historic stop for the circuit, and the program kicked off today with the Under 23 short track races.

Lucia Bramati (in the photo by Maxime Schmid) also competed in this event, getting a feel for the Austrian trails and finishing in 23rd position.

This was a good warm-up for Sunday, when the 22-year-old and Belgian Sverre Van Lee will pin on their numbers for the Under 23 cross-country races: the women's competition starts at 9 am, followed by the men's at 11 am.

The team's other young athletes won't be idle either.

Tomorrow, Flavio Dispensa will participate in the Nosellari Bike, a 36 km race held in the shadow of the Alpe Cimbra. On Sunday, Alice Pascucci will get on her MTB to honor the "Il Carpegna mi basta" Granfondo, a 42 km race on the trails of the hill dear to Marco Pantani.

Meanwhile, Giorgia Pellizotti and Pietro Cao will switch bikes, taking their Trinx Road bikes out of the garage to test themselves on this specialty.