Matteotti closes the week of classics in Italy
Team Polti Kometa will complete five races in 7 days in this opening of the calendar for the final stretch of the season. Opportunities to shine in classics with a lot of history and where the level of participation is very high. Now the Trofeo Matteotti circuit offers a place on which to return to the scene.
There will be 195 kilometres in total with 13 laps of the circuit around Pescara. A delight for the fans and hell for the riders, who will have to face more than 150 metres of accumulated elevation gain at each turn with the ascent of Colle Scorrano and Colle Montesilvano linked together. The downhill sections are also to be watched out for in the event of rain.
The Team Polti Kometa squad for this race is formed by the climber Matteo Fabbro as a reference, accompanied by Germán Gómez on that terrain and with a diverse and combative block of riders to be protagonists: Davide De Cassan, Andrea Garosio and Andrea Pietrobon will be in charge of the breakaway groups in the initial laps, looking for their options. Completing the line-up are stagiaire Luca Bagnara and Aidan Buttigieg, the Maltese champion. Both will make their debut in the Matteotti Trophy with the colours of the team in which they will have their first contact with professionalism. An occasion not to be forgotten.
Luca Bagnara: “Finally my debut with professionals is here, I’ve been waiting for it for a long time! We are preparing this Matteotti in an excellent way to face it at 110% and I will try to do my best, always at the disposal of what the team asks me”.
Aidan Buttigieg: “I am very excited to race this weekend in the Matteotti Trophy. It will be my first race with the team and I am very, very excited. Of course, I’m also a bit nervous. There is a lot of pressure I put on myself to perform at my best. That said, I know I will give my best and try my best. Also, I would like to mention that as Maltese national champion, this is a big event for Malta and for me. To wear the colours of my country in a professional peloton for the first time is a very important occasion”.
Biagio Conte, sports director: ‘The temperatures are starting to be very pleasant, which is very welcome on a course of this type. We’re bringing a diverse but suitable squad for a very tough course, which repeats the same circuit as in recent years. We will see the debut of Bagnara, also the Maltese Buttigieg, in front of a very high level of participation with several WorldTeam squads. But I’m confident in the performance of the team, which is doing well at the start of the end-of-year classics, and I hope we can achieve a great result’.
