GREAT U23 ITALIAN CHAMPIONSHIP FOR THE YOUNG CTF RIDERS

he last Saturday June 22, in Felino (PR), there was the U23 Italian Championship. The route was the same of the International "GP Città di Felino" but, due to the Italian Championship, there was one more climb in the final for a total of 5 KOM in a race 167 km long.

182 riders took part to this proof with also three young riders of Cycling Team Friuli: Borso, Cazzola and Magrin.

The race started in a very fast way so just after 33 km was possible to see the first important breakway with 14 riders: Riciputi (Viris), Ignazio Moser (Bmc), Draperi (Chambery), Amici (FGM-MI Impianti), Azzolini (Viris), Guerrini (Carmiooro-Pool Cantù), Pastorino (Gallina Eurofeed Colosio), Frapporti (Trevigiani Dynamon Bottoli), Malucelli (Coppi-Gazzera), Mitrofan (Selle Italia-Ursus), Bresciani (Marchiol-Emisfero-Site), Daniele Cazzola (Cycling Team Friuli), Cardinali (Monturano) e Giorni (Acqua & Sapone). Cazzola, at his 2nd year in U23 category, showed his skills remaining in front of the race for 90 km, being catched just at the 3rd KOM.

At that moment of this hard race just 70 riders were still in the peloton and, during that downhill other 22 riders escaped from it: the most important riders were Formolo, Bettiol, Senni, Cingi and Andrea Borso, the no still 19 years old Cycling Team Friuli rider, who showed again his condition. On the penultimate climb were Colpack's Villella and Cycling Team Friuli's Francesco Magrin the first riders who catched the breakway, followed by other 26 riders. So, at the beginning of the last lap 50 riders were competing again for the Green, White and Red jearsey with two CTF riders: Borso and Magrin.

On the last climb Sterbini attacked creating a gap between the first nine riders of the final classification (with the victory of Zordan, who beats again Villella in the final sprint) and the nine chasers with Senigallia's Paolo Totò and our Francesco Magrin, who passed through the final line 33 seconds after the winner in 15th place.

Satisfied at the end of the race Cycling Team Friuli's DS Tittonel who said: "Today our riders have done their best: Magrin is always with the best climbers of the category despite he is just at the second year in Under 23 category, the same for the young Borso who also today was present in a dangerous breakway in the race final and Cazzola, who has different skills, was able to enter in the longest breakway of the day. So, it seems we can believe in a positive future also in the hard races in the following years".

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