We are in Lavariano, in the heart of Friuli Venezia Giulia, where today the 150 starters raced the first stage of the regional Giro. We're in a small town, with just under a thousand inhabitants, surrounded on one side by mountains, on the other by the sea, and in the background, the town festival. A festive, cheerful atmosphere, like in the best cycling stories. A 20,1km team time trial, the essence of cycling, with teamwork at the heart of the objectivesThirty teams started every two minutes: the last to parade majestically through the city streets were the home team, the Cycling Team Friuli, by Roberto Bressan.
Colpo di coda
A quiet start: teams departing, others arriving, and the first provisional standings starting to be drawn up. Fans moving from one side of the street to the other to follow both the departures and the arrivals. The first best time is that of WAS KTM Graz p/b Leomo, which stops the clock at 22'43”37. Not even the time to mark some other results, that a new best time arrives: it is Biesse-Carrera, which is strong with four athletes, closes the time trial in 22'25”63.
A victory that Marco Milesi's team, with Belleri, Foldager, Garosio, Giordani and Villa, saw in their grasp until the end, when However, the CTF boys arrive at the finish line in Lavariano: a simply incredible timeWith an average speed of 55,543 km/h and a time of 21'42”98, Cycling Team Friuli was the only one to go under the 22' mark. Biesse-Carrera follows, with a delay of 42” and Zalf Euromobil Fior, with a gap of 47”.
Friuli, everything studied
A success at home, cheered on by adults and children alike who attended the race. Upon their arrival, requests for photos and autographs multiplied, while The Friulian team's staff explodes in a hug of joy. In short, the great moment of the CTF continues, which, thanks to the three victories for Nicolò Buratti last month, now archive this team time trial too, also with a symbolic value.
«We tried it – comments DS Andrea Fusaz – we knew every single corner and we knew we could do wellThe only unknown was the weather, we were afraid the wind might pick up, which fortunately didn't happen, allowing us all to run in the same conditions. I am very satisfied with the result and also the seconds of advantage we managed to gain over the second-placed team."
Buratti Pride
Very proud instead Nicolò Buratti, who is the first to cross the finish line, is the first yellow jersey of the Giro della Regione Friuli Venezia Giulia.
«It was a great team game – he says – and Wearing the leader's jersey here at home is a great emotion. To the Tour of Friuli I want to do well: I run on the roads where I train every day, I'm really happyI'm going to Australia in a few weeks and These days of racing will certainly be useful from a global perspective».
Tomorrow is no joke
Double jersey for the CTF which, in addition to that of the leader of the general classification, also conquers the leadership in the classification reserved for young riders, with the white shirt on the shoulders of Bryan Olivo. And of anders foldager, riding for Biesse-Carrera, the blue jersey of the points classification; Matteo Zurlo, (Zalf Euromobil Fior), is the king of the GPM with the green jersey, while Davide Dapporto (inEmiliaRomagna Cycling Team) wears the red jersey reserved for intermediate finishes.
Tomorrow will be it's time for a very interesting stage, and the one telling us about it is Andrea Fusaz himself, DS of the Cycling Team Friuli, who knows the places well.
"Tomorrow," he says, "will be a fun stage. Everyone will look at the altimetry, thinking it will be an easy stage, when in reality… the various small tears could turn into significant dangers».
The Giro del Friuli Venezia Giulia got off to a fantastic start, promising four days of great fun.
