«The date marked in red on my calendar? The Italian championships, but also the stage of the Italia Bike Cup in Stevenà di Caneva, organized by my father».

With these words, Pietro Cao introduced himself to the Trinx Factory Team on February 18th. And yesterday, the U19 rider who grew up on the trails between Treviso and Pordenone has achieved one of his major goals: winning his home race, thus securing his first victory of the season in front of his fans (photocredit Alessio Pederiva).

«This success worth everything», said the young biker at the finish line. «I had so many people cheering me during the race, in addition to my dad, of course. After a long toe-to-toe with Ettore Fabbro, in the last 2 minutes I gave it my all and I was able to cross the finish line first».

Besides celebrating at home, this achievement holds great value as it confirms Pietro's growth, whose results have been steadily improving in these two months of the season: this is demonstrated by the fact that the circuit leader Ettore Fabbro and Elia Rial, two of the reference athletes in the category, finished behind him.

First victory for Pietro, and also the best seasonal result for U19 Alice Pascucci, who finished fifth in the race won by Elisa Ferri. After coming close in both Verona and Albenga, this is the first podium ceremony in an international event for the seventeen years old. 

In the Elite race, Cristian Bernardi and Marco Bramati ranked 21st and 45th respectively. Cristian returned to racing after the long trip to Brazil for the two World Cup races, during which he supported the team and his teammates Lucia Bramati and Sverre Van Lee; Marco, on the other hand, put in his legs another demanding race at a time when his attention is focused on his final exams ofthe high school.

A difficult afternoon instead for U19 Flavio Dispensa, penalized by an allergy, while Lucia Bramati and Giorgia Pellizotti enjoyed a week of rest: both, in fact, are reduced by demanding months, between cyclocross, concluded on February 1 with the World Championships, and mountain biking, whose season started on Sunday, February 23.