Nazionale Italiana

[Vos]

GARA 3 :  Spanish sprint

13ºC

Almadén, Spain,
In the picture ; back in 2011 this sprint stage was won by Marcel Kittel, who avoided a massive crash.

Hopefully teamcaptain & topsprinter Marello can avoid bad luck too,
because Italia needs an excellent result after the first 2 dissapointing races.

Nazionale Italiana, selezione gara 3 :

Francesco Marello ( 27 ) woodwatch
Lamberto DiLuca ( 31 ) catapunchimpon
Damiano Carrassi ( 25 ) Shiro_Lions
Fortunato Raviolli ( 25 ) Eufemianoteam
Antonio Simoni ( 30 ) galegospolabici
Fabiano Grandini ( 25 ) Triomfator
- - - - - - - - - -
Nestore Novelli* ( 26 ) SPORTLIFE
Salvatore Vergottini* ( 19 ) Villavante     ( debutto )
Frederico Gucciardo ( 22 ) Flyvende_hjul

[Vos]

3º  Marello   0:00"
Finally an excellent result this season ! 

I tried to score some extra points with a free role, but he could not follow the brutal pace in section 2.
But more importantly ; teamcaptain Marello had support in all sections, including 2 essential helpers in s4.
This rainy&windy sprint race went like this ( number of cyclists in the front per section ) =  127 - 46 - 45 - 33 - 16.

[Vos]

GARA 4 :  Breda time trial

9ºC

Breda, the Netherlands,
The 4 in bold mentioned TT-specialists are all high ranked = nrs 3, 7, 11, 18.
But experience counts a lot too, and the best 3 are far from max. experience.
Perhaps/probably Poletti will get the best Italian result, due to his max. experience ánd due to his active weather icon*.

In previous NT season, Poletti was the best Italian TT-specialist with a 6º place in a 49km flat-TT,
where Novelli( 12º ) and Nardello( 15º ) scored points too = 330 total points.

But two seasons ago, Poletti finished "just" as 20º in a 53km flat-TT,
and the other Italian points were scored by Coppi( 8º, retired now at 35yo ) and Nardello( 16º ) = 210 total points.

Hopefully more points this season. And because luck plays a big role too, 2 more flat-TT-specialists are selected = nrs 26 & 37.
The last 3 places are for xp-cyclists / young top talents.

Nazionale Italiana, selezione gara 3 :

Nestore Novelli ( 26 ) SPORTLIFE
Giuliano Nardello ( 31 ) Lukara
Giovanni Pizzuto ( 26 ) WaterBoys
Domenico Poletti* ( 29 ) Sonfuga
Mirko Muto ( 31 ) MDDCycling
Leandro Costa* ( 30 ) Lukara
- - - - - - - - - -
Salvatore Vergottini ( 19 ) Villavante
Frederico Gucciardo ( 22 ) Flyvende_hjul
Massimiliano Fazzini ( 21 ) GiabbaStar    ( debutto )

[Vos]

3º  Novelli   0:05"
10º  Poletti   0:10"
Excellent results ! 

Nardello ( 22º on 0:14" ) dissapointed. With a little more luck he could have scored points, he finished in the same time as the nr 19º
Costa ( 25º on 0:15" ) had by far the lowest Italian race GV, but surprised a lot, almost points thanks to luck ánd his weather icon.
Muto ( 37º on 0:21" ) did what was expected, and that is finishing outside the points. But selected with the hope of a very lucky race.
Pizutto ( 41º on 0:24" ) had a complete off-day. Much more was expected of the nr 11 in the CFF ranking.

[Vos]

GARA 5 :  Vlaanderen

13ºC

Bruges, Belgium,
No Italian top cobblehills specialists. Also not for this specific RVV, where hills counts much more than in a "normal" cobblehills GV.
In the golden cobblehills ranking, the best five Italians are ranked on numbers 14, 16, 20, 26, 45.
So, it should be possible to score points if the tactics go right in this windy* race.

I'm not sure yet, but probably Alfani will be the teamcaptain due to his max.experience ( Contrini with best race GV, is half experienced ).
Because there is wind*, one more helper will be selected later. Three old candidates ( 31yo, 32yo, 33yo ) for that only one last spot.

Nazionale Italiana, selezione gara 5 :

Enzo Contrini ( 27 ) CyKings
Luciano Palosi ( 26 ) Stuttgarter
Gabriele Alfani ( 32 ) FakeBike
Dario Solari ( 31 ) Kelme4ever
Gianluca Mori ( 28 ) El_Realidad
Ezio Marello* ( 24 ) MortoviaCycling    ( debutto )
Tiziano Clari ( 32 ) TeamSerfin
- - - - - - - - - -
Frederico Gucciardo ( 22 ) Flyvende_hjul
Salvatore Vergottini* ( 19 ) Villavante

[Vos]

3º  Alfani   0:02"
Splendid top result , thanks to a perfect helper's job of Solari.

Italia even moved up to the 4th place in the season ranking, just 105 points behind the podium places.
But no illusions, because to my estimation ; a podiumplace this season, is far out of reach.
One of the main factors, is the NT climb time trial of next week. It is possible that Italia will score 0 points despite "home-advantage".

[Vos]

GARA 6 :  Monte Terminillo

35ºC

Vazia, Italy,
According to my estimation, no Italian is good enough to score points in this climb time trial.
Nevertheless, I decided to select the best 8 Italians ( in different GV options ).
In the hope that other countries make selection mistakes, and/or in the hope that an Italian has a lot of luck.
I think that one of the selected 25yo's has the most chance to surprise me.
Well, even if the result will be the expected zero points, at least Italia had an as "strong" as possible selection on home soil.

Nazionale Italiana, selezione gara 6 :

Gioachino Gazzola ( 25 ) Lukara     ( debutto )
Alessio Macannazi ( 25 ) RealMurciaCycling
Cristian Pellasci ( 25 ) TeamEuroscalt
Damien Panzeri ( 24 ) SaliDur    ( debutto )         
Nilo Giusti ( 33 ) Abrazafarolas
Gigi Sanna ( 31 ) Trisquel
Pino Matracia ( 30 ) Monty     ( debutto )
Gianluca Salvati ( 31 ) Undercover
- - - - - - - - - -
Frederico Gucciardo ( 22 ) Flyvende_hjul

[Vos]

GARA 7 :  Frauenfeld

34ºC

Frauenfeld, Switzerland,
As expected, 0 points in the climb time trial. What caused that Italia dropped from 4th to 6th place in the season ranking.
And it causes that there is nothing to battle for in the last NT race, because the gap to the podium places is too big.

Also because there are just 4 golden flat-cobble-specialists ; 3 low ranked, and the best is the nr 13 in the golden flat-cobble ranking.
But he does not like this NT race ; he prefers way less kilometers and prefers flat sections, or even better, a green-flat-sprint-section 5.
Perhaps even doubtfull if he will be the team captain. But who ever that will be, also a battle for race victory is not possible.

Hopefully my successor will have more luck with the NT schedule of next season, because this season was not in favor of Italia.
With a good season schedule ( for example hillsclimb instead of climb TT ), Italia should be good enough to battle for a podium place.

The just 4 golden flat-cobble specialists are all selected. The last 5 places are for cyclists to gain extra experience & beneficial for Italia.

Nazionale Italiana, selezione gara 7 :

Cristiano Sansonetti ( 26 ) OphiukoCT
Giulio Pellasci ( 24 ) LottoGranadier
Valentino Grillo ( 26 ) LaguardiaDSM
Luciano Cappannari* ( 32 ) CajaRuralZamora
- - - - - - - - - -
Frederico Gucciardo ( 22 ) Flyvende_hjul
Nestore Novelli* ( 26 ) SPORTLIFE
Salvatore Vergottini* ( 19 ) Villavante
Lauro Fortticcini* ( 22 ) BoletusEdulis
Massimiliano Fazzini ( 21 ) GiabbaStar

[Vos]

5 voti ! Molte grazie ! 

In the 2 previous NT seasons, Italy did GREAT, thanks to NT manager GiabbaStar. 
In his NT debut season( s45 ) = Italy world champion ! ( + individual NT jersey )
In his second season( s46 ) = again Italy world champion !

My goal for s47 is obvious ; trying to make Italy the world champion again.
What should be possible in this NT calendar, what seems advantageous to Italy.


programma della stagione 47 =

1.   Imola  HHHHH  153 km

2.   Andorra  MMMMM  105 km

3.   Friesland  FFFFF  177 km

4.   Bern  TT-FFFFF  38 km

5.   Montalcino  FFF^FHC^^ 222 km

6.   Yverdon-les-Bains  TT-FFFFF  15 km

7.   Richmond  CCCCC  259 km



GARA 1 : Italian hills

9ºC

Forlì, Italy,
All Italians with a golden hills icon are selected.
I'm not sure yet who the captain will be ; Coco has the best race GV, but Forte has a bit more xp and an active weather icon*.
They are the nr 14 and nr 31 in the golden hills ranking.

The final 2 spots are for xp-cyclists.
In the last training-update of previous season, Vergottini moved up to nr 1 in the golden flat-TT ranking of CFF.
He is an obvious choice for an xp-selection, also because there are 2x flat-TT this NT season.
The 21yo Scafidi makes his debut, also he is a flat-TT-toptalent.
According to my estimation ( if TR is good & if trained perfectly ), he will be just as good as Vergottini, ór better.


Nazionale Italiana, selezione gara 1 :

Max Cocco ( 26 ) ICSluj
Pier Forte* ( 32 ) FrançaiseDesJeux
Gaspare Fortticcini ( 29 ) Villavante
Ivano Mangili ( 25 ) Shiro_Lions
Santino Mastrilli ( 28 ) SentinelChickens
Rocco Chiappucci ( 27 ) Speedbird
Amauri Bettino ( 24 ) Fiestina
- - - - - - - - - -
Salvatore Vergottini ( 24 ) Villavante
Fabian Scafidi ( 21 ) Lukara    ( debutto )

[Vos]

NT race 1 result =
7    Pier Forte      32   0: 06"   150      FrançaiseDesJeux
Not a good race, but for sure happy with the result.

Already a drop in s2 of the Italian captain, but thanks to helpers in each section,
he was never very far behind, made a jump in the final s5, and won the sprint of the small chasing group.

Free role Cocco seemed to do a bit better ; he dropped in s3, although still one group further ahead as Forte in s3 (ánd in s4).
Cocco managed to stay in the s4 small chasing group, but had a less good final s5 as I expected.
He finished in the same time as the nr 18, but unfortunately as nr 23, zero extra points.

Italy starts this season with 150 points = nr 8 in the nations ranking.
Spain starts with 110 points. In the 2 previous seasons Spain was 2x 2nd behind 2x world champion Italy.
But it very well could be that this season has some other rival nations as well, to battle for the WC title.


GARA 2 : Andorra

30ºC

Andorra,
A pretty strong Italian selection with 4 high ranked climbers ( selected in this order ; nrs 4 & 17 & 12 & 16 ).
The race victory seems to me not duable, because the top 3 is too strong. All 3 are of the same team ; TeamEuroscalt. 
In previous s46 and in s43 a dissapointing NT mountain race, but excellent Italian climb results in s45 and s44.
Hopefully also in s47 a nice total points for Italy, it should be possible, but fingers crossed with the unpredictable 2x wind.

Nazionale Italiana, selezione gara 2 :

Lauro Fortticcini * ( 27 ) BoletusEdulis
Andrea Sansalone ( 30 ) Sonfuga
Massimiliano Fazzini ( 26 ) GiabbaStar
Cristian Pellasci ( 30 ) TeamCCC
Alessio Macannazi * ( 30 ) JOCO
Gallo Starnari * ( 27 ) BiciclistasCT
Lucio Medizzo ( 30 ) SPORTLIFE
Simone Giardini ( 25 ) Turrones
- - - - - - - - - -
Salvatore Vergottini * ( 24 ) Villavante

[Vos]

NT race 2 results =
4    Lauro Fortticcini      27   0: 10"   200      BoletusEdulis
17    Andrea Sansalone   30   1: 12"   40      Sonfuga
19    Gallo Starnari      27   1: 15"   20      BiciclistasCT
20    Cristian Pellasci      30   1: 15"   10      TeamCCC

Well, this windy mountain race did not go the way I planned. But content with the results / total points.
Italy scored 270 points, that is 4th in the day ranking, and just 40 points less as the nr 1 in the day ranking.
In the season nations ranking, Italy moved up four places and currently the nr 4 = 190 points behind leader Hungary.


GARA 3 : Friesland

19ºC

Heerenveen, the Netherlands,
Echelon warning !
A storm* is expected and Friesland is extreme flat.

Unfortunately the best Italian flat-sprinter is already 32yo and dropped to nr 11 in the flat-sprint-ranking.
Well, luck is probably more important than the ranking, in this unpredictable stormy sprint race.

Because there are only 4 Italian golden flat-sprinters, 2x 23yo silver flat-sprinters are selected as extra helpers.
The remaining 3 spots are for xp-cyclists = nrs 1 + 3 + 4 of the Italian flat-TT ranking ( the nr 2 has already 100xp ).
Due to the 2x flat-TT races of this NT calendar. ( nrs 5 + 6 have good xp, therefore might be better than the nr 4, but this aside ).

Nazionale Italiana, selezione gara 3 :

Francesco Marello ( 32 ) PedaleSanvitese
Damiano Carrassi ( 30 ) Shiro_Lions
Fortunato Raviolli ( 30 ) Villamuriel
Fabiano Grandini ( 30 ) PedaleSanvitese
Emanuele Montalbano ( 23 ) Anglers    ( debutto )
Cristiano Maranesi ( 23 ) Peromatobike    ( debutto )
- - - - - - - - - -
Salvatore Vergottini* ( 24 ) Villavante
Giovanni Pizzuto ( 31 ) WaterBoys
Vicenzo Marsile ( 26 ) OphiukoCT

[Vos]

NT race 3 results =
5    Francesco Marello      32   0: 00"   180      PedaleSanvitese
17    Damiano Carrassi      30   0: 18"   40      Shiro_Lions

Finishing in the very small front group of just 6 sprinters, is an excellent result of the Italian captain in this stormy race.
Also nice that the super important s4-helper scored a few extra points.

Italy moved up to the 3rd place in the season ranking = 150 points behind new leader Colombia.

[Vos]

GARA 4 : Bern

0ºC

Bern, Switzerland,
High expectations for this time trial !

Nazionale Italiana, selezione gara 4 :

Nestore Novelli* ( 31 ) SPORTLIFE
Salvatore Vergottini* ( 24 ) Villavante
Simone Facci* ( 29 ) SPORTLIFE
Giovanni Pizzuto ( 31 ) WaterBoys
Vicenzo Marsile ( 26 ) OphiukoCT
Vittorio Spadaro ( 26 ) AJ_Visma
Marco Petruso* ( 31 ) Lukara
Massimiliano Palandrani ( 28 ) Lukara
Filippo Fortticcini* ( 28 ) PedaleSanvitese

[Vos]

NT race 4 results ;

4    Nestore Novelli              31   0: 05"   200      SPORTLIFE
5    Salvatore Vergottini      24   0: 06"   180      Villavante
10    Giovanni Pizzuto      31   0: 14"   120      WaterBoys
12    Simone Facci              29   0: 15"   100      SPORTLIFE
16    Marco Petruso              31   0: 17"   60      Lukara

   Negative =

Italy has 2 real top contenders, and not even a podium place. 4th and 5th is dissapointing for Novelli* and Vergottini*.
What has as consequence that both have not a real chance anymore to win the NT jersey / both were favorites to win it.

Pizzuto and Facci* did about what was expected.
Only Petruso* seemed to have luck as nr 34 of TT-ranking, although he did had an active weather icon = *.

Unfortunately Marsile( 21st ), Fortticcini*( 22nd ) and Spadora( 24th ) finished all just 0:01" outside the points.
And Palandrani( 34th ) finished 0:03" outside the points, but no surprise he did not score as nr 31 of TT-ranking.
More was expected of Marsile, nr 15 TT-ranking, ánd Spadora, although just nr 23 TT-ranking, in previous season he was 9th.

Well, hopefully much more luck for Italy in the next time trial, NT race 6.


  Positive =

Despite Italy could and/or should have scored much more TT-points ( now it was "just" 660 points ) ;
as expected, Italy scored by far the best in this time trial, ánd is the new leader in the season ranking.
Former nrs 1 & 2, Colombia and USA, now nrs 2 & 3, scored even zero points, so, Italy is leading with a huge gap of 510 points.