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Trofeo Piva 2022, Marcellusi beats the cold: he is the master!

The Lazio rider of Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè was able to make the difference on the final climb to San Vigilio, finishing solo. Second place for a highly acclaimed Marco Frigo (Israel Cycling Academy), third for Colombian German Gomez (Colombia Tierra de Atletas)

Rain, cold and even a bit of snow at the start did not stop Martin Marcellusi, who won the 73rd Trofeo Piva on the finish line in Via Treviset in Col San Martino (Treviso). The Lazio athlete of Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè made all his explosiveness count on the deadly slopes of the San Vigilio wall, 700 metres at 10%, in full Flemish style, to stay in theme with the contemporary Tour of Flanders. His acceleration could not be resisted by Marco Frigo (Israel Cycling Academy), cheered on by his fan club on the Combai climb and then on the podium, who had to be content with second place, while a generous German Gomez (Colombia Tierra de Atletas) finished third, one of the first to break away on the climb.

THE RACE – The race became complicated even before the start, as rain and even a bit of snow fell on the riders at the moment of the signature sheet, so much so that the organisers and judges were forced to follow the UCI protocol for extreme conditions, then to remove two laps of the Combai circuit and reduce the overall distance to 143.8 km.

Despite being cold, the riders approached the first few laps of the Combai circuit at full speed, with sprints and counter- sprints that had no particular effect, except for a slow but decisive skimming of the group. At km 95, after a series of sprints on the Combai, German Gomez (Colombia Tierra de Atletas), Fran Miholjevic (CT Friuli), Filippo D’Aiuto (General Store -Essegibi-F.lli Curia), Felix Engelhardt and Logan McLain (Tirol-KTM) and Davide De Pretto (Zalf Euromobil Desirée Fior) managed to take advantage.

On the first passage from San Vigilio, however, the forcing of De Pretto reduced the group in the lead, with only Engelhardt, D’Aiuto and Gomez to resist him and the group behind, some thirty seconds away, now reduced to less than 30 units. On the last passage on the Combai came out in pursuit in 9, namely Martin Marcellusi (Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè), Giovanni De Carlo (Carnovali Rime Sias), Davide Piganzoli and Fernando Tercero (Eolo-Kometa), Francesco Busatto, Samuele Carpene (General Store-Essegibi-F. lli Curia), Moritz Kretschy (German national team), Marco Frigo and Mason Hollyman (Israel Cycling Academy), who were able to rejoin the front four just ahead of the final, decisive passage from San Vigilio.

With the peloton now almost a minute away, Frigo tried to anticipate the start of the San Vigilio by sprinting into the flat section, but Marcellusi soon caught up with him. The two started the final wall a few seconds ahead of the immediate pursuers, but proved to be the ones with the better pedal stroke on the climb. Marcellusi made his remarkable change of pace count, pulling away from Frigo, while behind Gomez and Hollyman tried, unsuccessfully, to catch up with the two in front.

Launched into a dive towards Col San Martino, Marcellusi never looked back, arriving with his arms raised in Via Treviset. It’s party time for Lazio, it’s party time for Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè!

STATEMENTS – The winner Marcellusi was beaming after the finish: “This is the most important victory of my career,” he admitted. “I had come close several times to winning an international race and today I finally did it. The experience I have gained over the past few months with the pros helped me, but it is above all the team that made the difference, they were great. Today I didn’t know what to expect, all the more so with the rain, but my leg responded very well, the team was counting on me, and when I came out with Frigo before San Vigilio I realised that today could really be my day”.

Second place did not leave Frigo unhappy, as he was the most cheered on the podium, being from San Giuseppe di Cassola (Vicenza) and his entire fan club was in tow. I had never raced the Piva, this is my last year as an U23 and I really wanted to test myself on this course,” said the athlete from Vicenza. It went well, the leg responded as it should, so I am very happy. Maybe I was a bit too generous in the finale, as often happens to me, but that’s OK. It’s a pity that the course was shortened, because with 40 km more of the race my skills as a cross-country runner would probably have come out better, but it’s OK.

Colombian German Gomez was undoubtedly the most combative of the day, and it was no coincidence that he won the GPM classification, thanks to the sum of the points gained on Combai and San Vigilio: “These are my routes,” said the Colombian. “I was cold, but I had good feelings, so I decided to attack from afar, and I am very happy to have won this podium in a race of great importance like the Piva. In this early part of the season I have always felt good, I hope that the condition will also accompany me in the coming weeks. When I’m based in Italy, I live in Gatteo a Mare (Forlì-Cesena), I feel great in Italy. The ideal country for cycling.

It was a demanding but rewarding day also for the President of AC Col San Martino, Mario De Rosso: “We did not expect such a storm just before the start,” he explains, “We were forced to follow the UCI protocol for extreme weather conditions together with the judges. We were sorry to have to shorten the course, but at that moment it was the only thing we could do. All in all I think it turned out to be a good show, the public was not missing and for that I have to thank everyone who came to our roads. Marcellusi is a talented young man who enriches our beautiful roll of honour. A big thank you also goes to the institutions, sponsors and volunteers, without whom it would have been impossible to organise the Trofeo Piva’.