Not 24 hours have passed since Christian Bagatin’s success in Rovato before the fifth seasonal success arrives for the MBH Bank Colpack Ballan CSB team, led by team manager Antonio Bevilacqua, Gabor Deak and the Ballan and D’Aprile families.
The month of April was thus confirmed as exceptional with the success of Lorenzo Nespoli, who obtained the best time in the time trial of Capraia and Limite, in the Florentine area, reserved for Elite and U23. Nespoli completed the 7.7km course in 15 minutes and 59 seconds, beating teammate Pavel Novak by just 1 second and Francesco Parravano of Aran Cucine Vejus by 22 seconds. Also noteworthy for the Italian-Hungarian project is Mark Valent’s impressive performance, which is 4th at 29 seconds and completes the team triumph in a race that saw 103 starters at the start.
NESPOLI: The Brianza native, already winner last year of a test in Reda di Faenza at the beginning of April 2023, today kicked the bad luck of recent times, demonstrating all his talent.
The boy talks about his joy and summarizes his misfortunes, the latest in Rome, when he had to give up the GP Liberazione due to a flu attack.
“After failing to start in Rome due to fever, I didn’t expect to go so fast. Looking back at the winter I had to rest for a month due to pain in my knee. A few weeks ago I crashed at Coppi e Bartali when I was fighting for a top 10. At Belvedere I was captain and I dislocated my shoulder and hit my ribs. I missed important tests like Recioto and Piva. In short, a difficult start. But now I have found myself and I know that when I’m well I’m there and I can play.”
Nespoli explains today’s test. “There was a first piece of plain, where I saved myself a little. Afterwards we had to face a 5km climb, with steps. I set it strong right from the start and towards the end I was at my limit.”
On the future: “Now I’m just asking for a pinch of luck and I’ll take care of the rest. I know I can go fast. I dedicate this success to the entire team who are always close to me, to the friends who are my companions. Now let’s think about the next race, tomorrow in Castello d’Albola, and I hope to participate in the Giro Next Gen”.
TECHNICIAN: Gianluca Valoti was in the flagship today: “As a team we did very well. We were confident because we had a formation of climbers at the start. A new experience for some but everyone faced it as best they could. Novak and Valent also did well in his first top 5.”
ARRIVAL ORDER:
NESPOLI Lorenzo MBHBank Colpack Ballan CSB – 15’59”, average 28.905 km/h
NOVAK Pavel Cze – MBHBank Colpack Ballan CSB – 1″
PARRAVANO Francesco Aran Cucine Vejus – 22″
VALENT Mark Hun – MBHBank Colpack Ballan CSB – 29″
SANTAMARIA Riccardo Hopplà Petroli Firenze Don Camillo – 30″
BELLERI Michael Hopplà Petroli Firenze Don Camillo – 36″
VIECELI Simone Trevigiani Energiapura Marchiol – 37″
SASSO Matteo Overall Tre Colli – 40″
SZYMACHA Kamil Kacper Pol – VPM Moretti SCS – 43″
ROGANTI Simone MG.Kvis Colors for Peace – 44″
JUNIOR: Good news from the MBH Bank Colpack Ballan CSB youth team who were busy in San Vendemiano (TV) for the Giro di Primavera. Tamas Takacs took 4th place in the race won by Filippo Cettolin. A new and important placing for Gilberto Simoni’s boys and directed by Safar Tamas with the support of Davide Martinelli.
Arrival order:
1st Filippo Cettolin (Borgo Molino Vigna Fiorita)
2nd Elia Andreaus (Team Giorgi)
3rd Enea Sambinello (Vangi Il Pirata)
4th Tamas Takacs (MBHBank Colpak)
LET’S REMEMBER THE NEXT U23 RACES:
Tomorrow the challenge continues with the Castel D’Albola race, where in 2023 Pavel Novak won ahead of Florian Kajamini. The Czech will still be at the start escorted by Bracalente, Nespoli, Vesco, Volpato and Valent.
On May 1st another part of the team goes to the province of Verona, in Valpolicella to Sant’Ambrogio. In the race there will be Bagatin, Lepold, Cipollini, Casalini, Boscaro and Monister. This occasion saw the return to racing of Sergio Meris, who had been out of action for about twenty days due to a fall which left him with a fractured coccyx. The team will be directed by Flavio Miozzo.
On the 5th there is once again space for sprinters with the Porto Circuit, in the Cremona area, an international race where there is usually a great sprint finish. For this reason Samuel Quaranta, Davide Boscaro, Matteo Fiorin will aim for the big target. The support team is yet to be defined in detail.
On the same day there is also a race in the province of Arezzo, in Montalto, for the Tortoli Memorial, dedicated to the DS who died prematurely. Flavio Miozzo leads the team.
