ASIAGO – When Sina Frei, Silvia Persico and Alice Maria Arzuffi climb to the podium of the awards at the end of the European Gravel Championship of Asiago, there is no national anthem waiting for them, there is no flag raising, not even the putting on of the jersey.
Swiss Frei, continental champion for a few minutes, He wore it backstage and only appeared in front of the audience for a brief greeting.The same thing happens a few minutes later for the elite men's category. The following parade on stage: Czech Martin Stosek, British Toby Perry and Belgian Jenno Berckmoes, first, second and third respectively.
This is because what was supposed to be a day of competitions for the athletes and fun for the hundreds of amateurs who arrived on the Asiago Plateau from all over Europe, It suddenly became much more gloomy. After the news of the fatal illness that occurred to Silvano Janes.
A fatal illness
Janes, “the old man,” had started a few minutes after the professionals, with the number 564 in the Masters 65-69 age category. After about 3 kilometers from the start, on a flat stretch, he collapsed to the ground. Just behind him, an organizer's quad bike was following the race and immediately alerted the rescue services, but there was nothing that could be done.
Silvano Janes was a very well-known name in the granfondo and mountain bike circles, a discipline of which he was a pioneerAs an amateur cyclist, he had won ten world championships, five European titles, and dozens of Italian titles, and had been a training partner of Moser and Simoni, as well as Martino Fruet, both from Trentino like him.
«Of the half million kilometers of my career – said Martino Fruet – I have no doubts that I rode at least 250 thousand with himHe was a training partner of Francesco Moser and also of Simoni and Marco Bui. We were a good group and we always said, maybe jokingly, that he would die on his bicycleHe could have waited a few more years, but he did what he liked best to the end."
Belgian scarecrow
As soon as I heard the news, The organization has decided to interrupt all competitions except the elite ones. And in their case too, it was decided to only let the leading groups arrive.
Among the men, 142 had left, with some big names among which stood out greg van avermaet and his compatriot Gianni Vermeersch, fifth at the recent world championship and winner of the first gravel world title in 2022. But already from the first of the three laps of 51 km each (total 153 km with 2.400 meters of altitude difference) A small group of seven riders had taken control of the situationThe German Voss, the Russian (but wearing a neutral jersey) Grigorev, the Czech Stosek, the Belgian pair Berckmoes and Godfroid, the Swiss Simon Pellaud and the British Perry.
From marathon to gravel
During the second lap the situation remained unchanged, with Pellaud's only failure, and everything was decided in the last round.
Stosek, a marathon specialist and national gravel champion, accelerated on the toughest part of the first climb and left the company of his opponents. Such a decisive action that at the last of the two intermediate points he had more than 3' of advantage over a trio formed by Berckmoes, Godfroid and PerryThe Briton then managed to surprise the two Belgians and cross the finish line in Piazza II Risorgimento 3'43'' behind the winner, followed by Berckmoes 35'' later. Stosek told us about this victory immediately after the finish.
«My discipline is the marathon – he said – so It's nice to see that I'm competitive in gravel too, especially since this is only my third race in this specialty.. However, even here you need a lot of power and a good dose of technique. I attacked on the third lap on the toughest and muddiest part of the climb. I just tried to push hard and set my pace, knowing that once that was over I could do the descent without taking too many risks. What can I say, it worked!
Frei among the blue ones
There was a lot of anticipation in the women's category given the large Italian team which included, among others, Elena Cecchini, Soraya Paladin, Silvia Persico and Letizia BorghesiThere were two laps of the course to tackle, 102 km with 1.600 m of altitude difference, and the first pass under the finish line saw all the best riders still together.
But it wasn't long before Swiss biker Sina Frei took matters into her own hands and rode off on her own. Following her were Persico and a very good Alice Maria Arzuffi, who fought for second place in the sprintAt the end of the straight, Persico finished second and Arzuffi third, 1'24 and 1'26'' behind the winner, respectively.
These are the words of the European gravel champion after the finish. "I'm very happy," she said. It's the best way to finish my season, with a race like this here in AsiagoThere were many strong Italians, and they all ran together, so I knew it would be tough for me. That's why I decided to start early, with about 35 km to go, on the first climb. I tried it and it went well, very well.».
Pozzato's choice
Let's finish with the words of Pippo Pozzato, on a day that is certainly not easy for those who organize such an important event and find themselves in facing a moment that is anything but simple, emotionally and logistically.
"This is news we would never want to hear," said the man from Vicenza. but in front of this we stop on everything. For this reason we immediately decided to stop everyone under the finish line, except the first 15 elite competitors. We could have continued, but We felt it was our duty towards Silvano Janes, his friends who were here and his family».
