A competitive weekend in Emilia-Romagna and Abruzzo: Memorial Pantani and Trofeo Matteotti
18 September: Memorial Marco Pantani
19 September: Trofeo Matteotti
The succession of races on the Italian calendar starts to pick up speed with two new races to close the third week of September. It is the turn of the Memorial Marco Pantani, in Cesenatico on Saturday 18, and the Trofeo Matteotti in Pescara, the following day, on Sunday 19.
The Memorial Pantani is a young race compared to others, only seventeen editions have been held since its birth in 2004, but the weight of its name makes it a very important event. A Marco Pantani Memorial that saw one of our team riders, Francesco Gavazzi (2016), raise his arms at the finish line. In 2010 Belletti was third and in 2018 it was Gava.
The 2021 edition will repeat the route of the previous one. A first route where Rocca del Carminate, Teodorano and Monte Cavallo will be climbed. Then, three laps of the Montevecchio circuit, where this orographic difficulty stands out for its length (5 km), its average gradient (6%) and its maximum gradients (14%). Finally, four laps of a street circuit in Cesenatico.
The Trofeo Matteotti has much more tradition. The Unione Ciclista Perna race faces its 74th edition over a circuit with Pescara and its surroundings as epicentre hosts the race. The circuit, of 15 kilometres, presents in its middle part the ascent to Colle Scorrano and Montesilvano Colle as major difficulties and both will be faced during thirteen laps.
The technical staff of the EOLO-KOMETA Cycling Team has arranged a block of eleven riders for this second chain of races in Italy. In the Memorial Pantani Vincenzo Albanese, Davide Bais, Manuel Belletti, Mark Christian, Francesco Gavazzi, Lorenzo Fortunato and Vicente Hernaiz will compete. The following day, in the Matteotti Trophy, Albanese, Bais and Fortunato will repeat and Mattia Frapporti, Edward Ravasi, Samuele Rivi and Luca Wackermann will complete the team.
Memorial Marco Pantani Memorial: Castrocaro e Terra del Sole – Cesenatico (199 km).
74º Trofeo Matteotti: Pescara – Pescara (195 km).
[ Atila Madrona]
