Ronse is a small Belgian town on the border between Wallonia and Flanders. For cycling enthusiasts, it’s considered a bit like the Holy Land. A few kilometers away is Oudenaarde, where the Flanders Museum is one of the main attractions. Ronse is a tidy and quiet town nestled in the rolling meadows that hosted the Para-Cycling World Championships from August 28th to 31st.
A truly impressive number of athletes brought a magical touch to this delightful place. A huge turnout, a testament to the depth and breadth of cycling’s following in these parts.
On Wednesday, the athletes test the course, and on Thursday the races begin with the time trials.
The Italian national team fields a considerable number of athletes: 7 women and 16 men.
The time trials begin, featuring Martino Pini, Ana Maria Vitelaru, Svetlana Moshkovich, and Fabrizio Cornegliani. Martino had a tough race, unable to get higher than eighth place, just behind Davide Cortini but still two minutes behind Olympic champion Mathieu Bosredon.
Ana Maria Vitelaru followed, and with a well-judged strategy, she took home a bronze medal.
Svetlana Moshkovich narrowly missed her time trial, beating the second- and third-place finishers by 8.93 and 9.29 seconds, respectively.
The first gold medal of the day.
Then it was Fabrizio Cornegliani’s turn, a notable absentee throughout the season, focused solely on the World Championships. He dominated his stage from the start, beating the South African athlete at the intermediate time by less than four seconds, then shaving off over a minute at the finish.
The second day featured the men’s tandem of Bernard and Totò, who failed to finish higher than eighth, and Riccardo Cadei, who finished eleventh.
The third day saw the road races begin, featuring the same athletes as the first day.
This time, Martino Pini showed his teeth and, with an attacking race, dueled to the finish among the leading trio. The Frenchman took the lead, winning by almost two minutes, but Martino narrowly defeated his compatriot Mirko Testa. Martino took silver!
Speaking of teeth, Ana Maria Vitelaru was no slouch either, and after a race in which she shared the lead with Chantal Haenen, she took silver in a sprint across the finish line. The judges assigned the same time.
Svetlana also confirmed her form by winning a bronze medal, matching the gold medal she had won two days earlier. Needless to say, she was beaming with happiness.
Fabrizio Cornegliani took home his second gold medal after a highly controlled race, ahead of American Barry Wilcox, who remained more than a minute behind.
Final day of competition: The Colombo-Bissolati women’s tandem, not fielded by the national team coach in the time trial, also took part, finishing no better than ninth.
Riccardo Cadei also placed ninth in the MC4. Finally, the Berard-Totò men’s tandem performed well, taking fourth place after a hard-fought race at very high average speeds.
Thus ends a World Championship that for Team Equa has brought numerous podiums and confirmation of its position as one of the strongest teams in the world.
Two gold medals for Fabrizio Cornegliani, the absolute dominator of the category.
A bronze and a silver for Ana Maria Vitelaru, who demonstrated a remarkable physical recovery from the Italian Championships in Castagneto Carducci.
An incredibly hard-earned bronze for Martino Pini.
And two more well-deserved gold and bronze medals for Svetlana.
Team Equa owner Ercole Spada is extremely satisfied and is already sharpening his weapons for next season.
And now for some gossip.
Svetlana was supported by a coach, a cook, a mechanic, etc.… Unusual, you might say. She also had a dispensation from the Austrian national team (she is an Austrian citizen) to stay in private accommodation with her faithful companion (the one who does everything).
Well, this extraordinary person is Andrea Casadei, Team Equa, Italian time trial runner-up and Italian road race champion. They got married on Monday, September 8th! This is the greatest victory.
