Puppio in the Coppa Bernocchi and Oldani in the Coppa Agostoni compete with the Italian national team
September 15th
101st Coppa Bernocchi
Legnano-Legnano (198.2 km)
September 14th
73rd Coppa Agostoni – Giro delle Brianze
Lissone-Lissone (195.5 km)
The celebration of two of the three races of the former Lombard triptych, which lasts until the month of October due to the celebration of Tre Valli Varesine after the World Championships in Insbruck, has brought with it two calls for riders of the Kometa Cycling Team by the Italian team. Stefano Oldani and Antonio Puppio have entered the dynamics of their federation’s appeals for the national team that usually takes part in several trials in the weeks prior to the world event.
This Sunday, in the centenary Coppa Bernocchi and his most favourable profile for the fast men, it was Antonio Puppio’s turn. The cyclist from Samarate was part of a ‘seven’ in which were also Elia Viviani, Giulio Ciccone, Alberto Dainese, Gregorio, Ferri, Filippo Ganna and Davide Martinelli. The young rider of the Kometa Cycling Team worked in favour of the options of the fastest men in that team. A fall with 600 metres to go disrupted the plans and eliminated Dainese, who suffered a fall. The final victory went to German Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain-Merida).
“We worked hard, it was a hard day,” explains Puppio, who finished 48th, 13 seconds behind the winner. “The victory has been played in a group of about 70 riders who have reached the end.
On Saturday it was the turn of Stefano Oldani, who took the Azzurra in a new edition of the Agostoni Cycling Coppa. A race slightly less than 200 kilometers, but with four laps in its central part to the so-called Lissolo circuit, 24.5 kilometers complex and demanding. On this track, the climb to Colle Brianza (537 metres) emerged as the key point for the resolution of the race.
The victory went to the bag of Belarusian Aleksandr Riabushenko (UAE Team Emirates), who beat the Kazakh Alexey Lutsenko (Astana) in the finish. The two, after an attack 40 kilometers from the end catapulted from a group of eleven units, arrived with half a minute on Russian Nikolay Cherkasov (Gazprom) and a minute and a half on a first group of illustrious among which were several of his escape companions. Further back, at 8:16, he crossed the Oldani finish line.
The Kometa Cycling Team Lombard finished in 50th position after a demanding day. “It’s been a very hard day,” he says. “We had the opportunity to do a race if we were presented with it, but it was a very tough race. In the end, the strongest riders, like my current team-mate Giulio Ciccone or other Worldtour cyclists, had very good legs, did very well in the final part and finished in front”.
(automatic translation, sorry for mistakes)
