2 Oct 2023

Fantastic Albanese, second at Bernocchi.

Coppa Bernocchi (1.PRO)

Legnano - Legnano (186'6 km)

Ahead of him, only a phenomenon named Vout Van Aert: then, Vincenzo Albanese. A wonderful second place, in a race as important as the Bernocchi Cup, certifying a season finale in which Albanese has shown an increasingly better condition. A second place that, among other things, puts our rider in an excellent position for the conquest of the diamond reserved for those who place better in the three races of the “Trittico Lombardo”: tomorrow’s Tre Valli Varesine will decide who will be the winner between him and Hirschi.

The race exploded on the last passage on the Piccolo Stelvio, with Jumbo and Soudal opening the throttle and forming a 9-man group: in addition to our Albanese there were Julian Alaphilippe, Andrea Bagioli, Fausto Masnada (Soudal Quick Step) Christian Scaroni (Astana), Wout van Aert, Jan Tratnik, Tiesj Benoot (Jumbo Visma) and Marc Hirschi (UAE). The peloton worked in agreement, with Alaphilippe trying to surprise everyone in the finale but his attack was stopped by the Jumbo men who led their captain to victory. A sprint that was never in question, but which saw our Albanese beaten only by Van Aert. Hats off to him.

Vincenzo Albanese: “I’m happy, and I’m also a bit excited to be on the podium next to a phenomenon like Van Aert: coming second after him is almost like winning. Today the race was hard, even harder than I expected but the leg turned well. In the small group I was the only one who didn’t have teammates so I was kind of on the wheel and tried to give everything in the sprint. I think more than that I couldn’t do. I am repeating that my goal is to give EOLO KOMETA a victory to thank the team for these three wonderful years. There are only a few races left, but I will always try.”

Stefano Zanatta: “A great day for the team with Albanese doing something really great: to be there with those champions and those teams is not a normal thing and not to be underestimated. Alba is going stronger and stronger, they really deserve a win between now and the end of the season.”