A lombard full of story ‘end of the year’ for the Polartec-Kometa Team
15 September: Coppa Agostoni (199.9 km)
16 September: Coppa Bernocchi (198 km)
Unlike the Spanish calendar, where for some years now and due to a series of factors the racing season ends with the conclusion of the Tour of Spain, the Italian calendar is rich in cycling competitions in this segment of the campaign that has its zenith in a Monument like the Giro de Lombardy. Some of them have come and gone, but several events continue to be held year after year at this time and accumulate a great, enormous, tradition. And such is the case of the imminent commitments of the Polartec-Kometa in transalpine soil, which competes in two of the three trials of the so-called Lombard Triptych.
The first is the Coppa Agostoni-Giro delle Brianze, a race that honours with its name Ugo Agostoni, natural of Lissone who was a professional in 1911 and 1924 and, among other races, came to win a whole Milan-Sanremo. The race was created in 1946, although since 1959 is professional. Starting and finishing in Lissone, near Monza, this race of the UCI Europa Tour presents a route of 199.9 kilometres which, in its central part, presents four steps to a circuit of 24.5 kilometres, the Lissolo circuit, where the climbs to Sirtori (457 m), Colle Brianza (537 m) and Lissolo (522 m) emerge. Twelve ascents in total that will harden their dispute.
Miguel Ángel Ballesteros, Isaac Cantón, Awet Habtom, Wilson Peña, Michel Ries and Diego Pablo Sevilla are the seven riders chosen to participate in the Agostoni. Matteo Moschetti will also take part in the race, although he is enrolled in an Italian team whose participation in these events is usually customary, traditional, in the pre-world championship dates.
The following day, Sunday, Polartec-Kometa competes in one of the most traditional races of the world calendar, not in vain celebrates its 100th edition. Major words. The Coppa Bernocchi de Legnano disputed its first edition in 1919 and since then, except in 1943 (in 1931 the Frenchman Bovet won, but it was annulled for supposed irregularities), it has been celebrated annually. It all began when Pino Cozzi, president of the same Unione Sportiva Legnanese that still drives the race today, asked for the support of an illustrious native of the population, Senator Antonio Bernocchi. A career was born and also a denomination.
With a fundamentally Italian track record, something more choral in this sense is that of a Coppa Agostoni that in 1963 had a Spanish success with Jaume Alomar, in 2018 it is disputed over a route of 198 kilometres where the six ascents to the Morazzone stand out. Juan Camacho, Patrick Gamper, Michele Gazzoli, Matteo Moschetti, Stefano Oldani, Wilson Peña and Diego Pablo Sevilla attend this event.
Jesús Hernández, team director of the Polartec-Kometa Team: “These tests are in line with what we have been doing with the presence of WorldTour and Continental Professional teams. We have to have presence in the race, try to get into the leaks, because maybe you can not fight for victory in a you to you given the level … If it happens that there are large leaks, which can reach the finish line, try to get in. They are learning races for them, they run in a serious way and with big teams on the side, the line we have taken in Valencia, in Aragón, in Haut Var,… Whenever there is a WorldTour, learn to run with them and have presence in the race. For us it is very important that the kids can be next to great teams and runners, even if they are very young, try to go without complexes and try to be in the race and be protagonists”.
The Coppa Agostoni and the Copa Bernocchi will also be the last two races of the continental formation of the Alberto Contador Foundation in its first course of existence.
(automatic translation, sorry for mistakes)
