The Equa CSF team is preparing for training camps.
At the end of May, our athletes met in Castagneto Carducci for the Italian Championships.
Two partially overlapping loops for the time trial and the line race. A very slight climb inland, perhaps accentuated by the hot days, made the difference, especially for the more vulnerable categories.
But let’s take it one step at a time.
A total of 15 athletes from Team Equa CSF are at the start: Marcella Benedetti, making her debut; Ana Vitelaru; Claudia Cretti; Chiara Colombo/Elena Bissolati; Lorenzo Bernard/Paolo Totò; Manuel Lama/Manuele Caddeo; Damiano Marini; Martino Pini; Andrea Casadei; Andrea Tarlao; Silvio Sicurani; and Riccardo Cadei.
The first day saw the time trial, where the men’s tandems Bernard/Totò and Lama/Caddeo took gold and silver, respectively.
The women’s pair Colombo/Bissolati took a foregone conclusion of the gold medal, followed by gold for Cadei in MC4, and Cretti and Tarlao in WC5 and MC5, respectively.
Silver went to Damiano Marini, Ana Vitelaru, who isn’t yet fully back on track, and Andrea Casadei, who is eager to reclaim his spot from last year’s Montesilvano.
Silvio Sicurani placed fourth, and Luigi Ferracane placed tenth.
On the second day, Sunday, the road races begin.
The day is unusually hot, so much so that it feels like midsummer. Categories 1 and 2 are penalized, racing in the middle of the day on an extremely picturesque course, protected by high banks and orchards where the breeze can’t penetrate. Numerous sponging spots and improvised refreshments set up by spectators along the road provide refreshment for the riders.
Anamaria takes revenge for the previous day, when she saw Katia Aere take the win. Today, the positions are reversed. Riccardo Cadei takes a repeat, as do Claudia Cretti, Colombo/Bissolati.
Andrea Casadei, a well-deserved gold medal: evidently his profession as a cycle touring guide, which leads him to, as he himself says, “many low-quality kilometers,” has paid off…
Lama/Caddeo, Andrea Tarlao, and Damiano Marini are silver, while Pini, Bernard/Totò (penalized by a technical incident), and Marcella Benedetti are bronze.
Silvio Sicurani finished fourth and Luigi Ferracane eleventh.
The season is on hiatus, but will return in style at the end of August in Belgium for the World Championships.
The “nationals” will go to supervised training camps, while the others will train, preferably at altitude.
Wine isn’t the only thing that makes good blood…
