GROSSETO. The curtain fell yesterday afternoon on the two days dedicated to the time trial races of the Italian cycling championships. The most fascinating discipline on two wheels, the challenge against time, has struck a chord in the hearts of the people of Grosseto, also due to the extraordinary performance of the super favourite, the hour record holder Filippo Ganna, who covered the 35, 100 kilometers of the route in 39’17, at the stratospheric average of 53.59 kilometers per hour. “Top Ganna”, 28 years old from Verbania, bearer of the Ineos Grenarders, passed Principina Terra, La Trappola, San Lorenzo like a bolt of lightning, to reach the finish line in Viale della Repubblica with 24 seconds on Edoardo Affini, who tried with all his strength to keep up with the super champion. On the third step of the podium, Filippo Baroncini 55 seconds behind, fourth, 61 seconds behind the winner, Jonathan Milan, one of the most awaited protagonists.
For Ganna, who overcame eighteen registered opponents, it is the fifth Italian time trial title of his career, in the last commitment before the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. «This morning I participated in the award ceremony of the first three athletes classified in the individual time trial which saw our city is the protagonist. For me, an absolute supporter of sport, it was a unique emotion to reward the first three athletes classified, in particular the legendary Filippo Ganna”, wrote in a post the mayor Antonfrancesco Vivarelli Colonna, who attended the medal award ceremony together to Cordiano Dagnoni, national president of the Federciclismo, Roberto Pella president of the Professional League, Saverio Migliore, maximum regional representative of the FCI; as well as the sports councilor Fabrizio Rossi and the president of the city council Fausto Turbanti.
The U23 world champion Vittoria Guazzini, from Poggio a Caiano, a member of the Fiamme Oro, won the tricolor jersey among the professional women (21 participants), with a time of 29’10 (47.71 km/h average) . At the end of a 23.2 km route she beat Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl Trek) in 29’29 and third Elena Pirrone (Fiamme Oro) who finished in 30’12, four seconds better than Gaia Masetti.
«It was an extraordinary, exciting event – comments the municipal councilor Alfiero Pieraccini, who followed the event since the proposal to the Municipality and left the headquarters well after the end of the races – Grosseto responded very well, from the point of view of the routes, which were defined as perfect by professionals and the protagonists, but also under that of the public with many enthusiasts who settled down at the finish line to applaud the celebrated champion. We are happy that the event was managed in an impeccable manner, starting from the organization of the UC Larcianese, up to the engineer Alessandro Villani who with professionalism and passion prepared the routes and changes to traffic, to minimize the inconveniences. Grosseto, with a long broadcast of the race on Rai Sport, benefited from a media point of view, as well as from a tourist point of view, for the over two thousand people (with around 350 cyclists) who arrived in the city in the middle of the week”.
