Messina was the capital of Italian mountain biking for a day with the second edition of the Granfondo Passione Mtb, a stage of the Openspeed circuit and valid as a single event of the Csen Eastern Sicily Championship. Many enthusiasts gathered on the 43 km route with a difference in altitude of 1,450 metres, not only from the eastern part of the island, given that many bikers from the central area and Palermo also accepted the trip to test themselves on the beautiful route, straddling the Tyrrhenian seas and Ionian.
The victory went to Angelo Parisi (Special Bikers Team) who covered the distance in 2h07’00” ahead of Giuseppe Barberi (Nebrodi Marine) by 14″, with third place Pietro Macchione (Bike Marino Messina) much further behind at 4’39 ”. One of the favourites, Giuseppe Cicciari (Gioventù Pacese-Celertrasporti) is off the podium at 6’24”. The women competed over the distance of 29 km, here Maria Francesca Rigano (Enerwolf), already winner last year, prevailed in 3h08’27” with 16’38” over Annalisa Danzé (Bike Marino Messina).
The organizers of the Asd Passione Mountain Bike Messina, already mentally charged to continue the long journey for which the event is destined, thank the city authorities, the associations, the sponsors and all those who worked for the success of the event , fully inserted into the very rich MTB granfondo calendar in Sicily.
