«Trust the process» is one of the mantras most often repeated to first-time athletes in a category, where they often have to start from the beginning (and often from the back of the grid). And it's the motto repeated to Lucia Bramati and Laura Squarise, the two athletes from the Trinx Factory Team who yesterday participated in the fourth round of the World Cup in Lenzerheide, Switzerland.

Lucia, in her first year among the Elite, returned to a course that historically doesn't suit her, especially in the scorching heat she suffers from. The twenty-three-year-old Italian (pictured by Piper Albrecht) made a great start, moving her from 50th to 30th. Lucia also had a good second lap, but then she had to ease off the accelerator in the second half of the race, finishing her effort in 47th place.

A similar argument can be made for Laura Squarise, an athlete in the Under 23 category who is experiencing her first season in a team that allows her to follow an international calendar.

The 21-year-old italian biker, after finishing 31st in the short track on Friday, ended 40th place in the Olympic cross-country race; for her, too, it was an experience to treasure ahead of the upcoming summer events, but also the awareness of having made progress compared to last season: Laura, in fact, had also competed in the Swiss race in 2025, recording lap times that were less impressive than those of yesterday.

Welcoming these results with a smile will be fundamental in view of the next stage of the World Cup: in two weeks the MTB World Series circus will land in Italy, and more precisely in La Thuile, on one of the most spectacular tracks in the Belpaese and on which both Lucia and Laura have already had the opportunity to train during the retreat with the Italian national team.

Speaking of Italy, the team led by Luca Bramati recorded some interesting results over the weekend. Between his final exams, Pietro Cao scheduled a trip to Portobuffolè on Saturday for the third stage of the Eliminator Tour: a decision that proved to be the right one, as the biker from Treviso (in the archive photo by Alessio Pederiva) won the competition, strengthening his lead after his success in the opening stage in Santa Lucia di Piave and his podium finish in Pieve di Soligo.

Yesterday Zoe Del Ponte competed in the CollioBrda Cup XC in Medea, in the province of Gorizia: the athlete from Treviso took home yet another podium of her season, finishing the race for the 2011-born bikers in second place. A good result in view of the Italian Xco Championships scheduled for next Sunday in Chies' D'Alpago.