That she liked her home track of Leogang was already evident on Friday, when Antonia Grangl finished her first World Cup short track race in 25th place. But yesterday the young Austrian from the Trinx Factory Team, in her first year among the Under 23s, even outdid herself by taking an excellent eighteenth place in the Olympic Cross Country specialty.

On a treacherous track, a mix of muddy and fast sections, Antonia demonstrated great maturity: at the beginning of the race she focused on finding her pace and then she put together three excellent final laps that vaulted her up the rankings, climbing from 24th to eighteenth at the finish line.

She also felt the satisfaction of finishing third among the 2007-born athletes. It was the perfect way to continue her study, as Antonia is busy with her final exams.

Like Friday, Laura Squarise, the other Under-23 rider on Luca Bramati's team, encountered a few more difficulties in the mixed Austrian conditions. Unlike her performance in the Italian races, but also in the first two World Cup stages, this time the Italian biker couldn't find her pace, partly due to a small physical issue that slowed her down: today Laura finished 31st.

Lucia Bramati, competing in the Elite Women's race, also had an unlucky day. The 23-year-old Italian failed to get into gear, finishing at the back of the large group of about sixty athletes. For her, too, in her first year in the top category, it was an experience worth learning in preparation for the upcoming events.