Cycling, Bastianelli, Confalonieri, Guazzini: one-two-three of Italy rose in Belgium

They are protagonists, they make no mistakes, they run to win, always. And they exalt us. They are the golden girls of blue women’s cycling. Elisa Longo Borghini queen of the UAE Tour in Abu Dhabi, historic first female race in an Arab country; then the two sprints of the Italian champion Elisa Balsamo at the Vuelta Valenciana. Today the dream hat-trick in the Belgian semi-classic “Le Samyn” in Dour, not far from the border with France and near the Roubaix Arenberg Forest. Victory for Marta Bastianelli, the Lazio rider of the Uae-Adq team who overtook Maria Giulia Confalonieri (Uno X) from Brianza in the two-man sprint; third at 9” the Tuscan Vittoria Guazzini (Fdj Suez), who regulated the pursuers. And Saturday in Siena appointment with the Strade Bianche, WorldTour race.
For Bastianelli, 35 years old, world champion in Stuttgart 2007, queen of the Tour of Flanders 2019 a few hours before Bettiol, it’s a great start to the season: third in the Omloop (opening classic in Belgium) and second in the Omloop van het Hageland, always behind the very fast Dutch Lorena Wiebes. It will also be her last season (and we are very sorry), but Marta is demonstrating once again what professionalism is, she who is in her eighteenth season in the group.

The words “Belgium is my second home – explains Marta Bastianelli -. Today we wanted to get a good result as a team. The day was tough for me because I haven’t been feeling well in the last few days, but we applied the team’s plan perfectly and achieved victory. In case of finishing in the sprint we had to work for Chiara Consonni. And I was free to try it from afar on the last cobbled section. I seized the right moment, Confalonieri followed me and we went together to the finish. I apologize to Maria Giulia if I didn’t help her too much in the final stages, but I wasn’t sure how big the gap was and what was happening behind me. When I realized we were going to make it, I gave my all to sprint and I’m happy with this victory for me and for the team. An important victory for morale. This was a difficult race to manage in the cold, and it came after very demanding days and the result is never a given. There were some difficult situations, but in the end we were good at managing them, we never lost heart”.