The Italian champion wins the third women’s open race of the Internazionali d’Italia Series at the end of a great show of pride.
After San Zeno di Montagna, Martina Berta dominated the Internazionali d’Italia stage in Nervesa della Battaglia (TV). The Italian champion (Santa Cruz Rockshox Pro Team) won the third stage of the women’s Internazionali d’Italia Series with a show of pride that left no room for her opponents.
“I’m very happy, today I wanted to race more with myself than with my opponents” – said the winner immediately after arriving at the finish line – “I tried to find my rhythm from the beginning, starting strong as I usually do, I didn’t expect to be 15-20 seconds ahead right away, but this allowed me to deal with the most technical sections like the one in the grove. Then I tried to keep the throttle open until the end to prevent anyone from coming back and it went well. I’m happy with how it went today, I needed confirmation after the practice in Brazil and I’m very happy that I’m doing well again.”
By the end of the second lap (six in total), the Piedmontese was more than 30 seconds ahead of Greta Seiwald (Decathlon Ford Racing Team) and almost a minute ahead of Valentina Corvi (Santa Cruz Rockshox Pro Team) and Giada Specia (Wieler-Vittoria Factory Team XCO). It was Specia who might have been affected by yesterday’s efforts, having won the Italian short track championship in Nervesa della Battaglia. However, the Bellunese was the star of the second half of the race, which guaranteed her 3rd place overall, 1’45” behind Berta. Here are her words: “I feel really good and I wanted to prove it again today. Let’s say that these conditions don’t do much for me, it’s something I definitely have to work on. But I am very happy. “
Also excellent was the performance of Greta Seiwald from South Tyrol, who, after paying the price in the first few laps, never gave up and finished second, 52 seconds behind the winner. “The course was very nice, but also very hard because of the mud, but our races are nice because the conditions are the same for everyone. I am really happy because being strong on such a demanding course, where you have to stay focused and never give up until the end, means that you are also strong in your head”.
Thanks to this victory, Berta is back in the lead of the Internazionali d’Italia series with 150 points ahead of Giorgia Marchet (Ktm – Protek – Elettrosystem), who finished 5th today, followed by Lucia Bramati (Trinx Factory Team) on 116 points, Giada Specia on 110 and Sophie Pedersen (Wieler-Vittoria Factory Team XCO) on 100. 90 points with only one race to go, the Alpago.
Valentina Corvi in the U23 classification. The Santa Cruz Rockshox Pro Team rider was the protagonist of an excellent race that saw her take 4th place in the U23 classification and consolidate her lead in the overall standings. Lucia Bramati (Trinx Factory Team) was second and Marika Celestino (Scott Racing Team) third.
Giada Martinoni impresses in the junior category. The KTM Factory MTB Team rider, leader of the general classification of the category, respected the prediction by winning the race dedicated to juniors. Second was Sabrina Rizzi (Jam’s Bike Team Buja) and third was Valeria Terzi (Ju Green A.S.D. Gorla Minore).
