It was an intense Easter weekend for Top Girls Fassa Bortolo, but made special by the girls of Lucio Rigato who put on a show on the streets of Italy and France.
The triptych of scheduled races opened on Saturday 16 April in Ponte a Egola, where Iris Monticolo, Giorgia Bariani and Vanessa Michieletto tried several times to make a breakaway without success. Finally, in the sprint with a compact bunch, it was Vanessa Michieletto who took seventh place.
On Easter Day, on the French roads of the G.P. Chambery, it was Cristina Tonetti who impressed everyone. The Brianza girl launched the first attack of the day after about ten km and just the Cypriot Christoforou (Team Farto) was gaining up to 2 ‘on the main group. The FDJ girls took care of the chase, with Brodie Chapman and Victorie Guilman being the only two to be able to get back to the leading couple. The leading quartet immediately found an agreement, starting to gain again on the first chasing group. However, it was only during the last of the 7 laps scheduled that Tonetti had to surrender to the FDJ tandem, finishing in third place and thus crowning an epic race. Greta Marturano, on the other hand, finished in sixth place.
Finally, the icing on the cake came on Easter’s second day with the solo win of Alessia Vigilia in Monselice. The riders of Top Girls were the real dominatrixes of the race, attacking to the bitter end from the first km. The decisive attack, however, was that of the girl from Bolzano, who made a solo ride in the last 10 km that brought her to the finish line with her arms raised. To conclude a day which will last a long time in the memory of the Treviso-based team, Giorgia Bariani got a second place, Vanessa Michieletto a sixth and Giorgia Vettorello a tenth.
“What we have experienced in these last three days – declared a touched Lucio Rigato – is incredible. In the last month, the team has grown day by day and in this triptych of competitions, the girls have shown all their value. After a complicated start to the season in which there were more girls standing at the boxes than those available, we were able to get the team back almost complete and this made the difference. Our strength is the group and it is therefore important for us to be able to work with all our athletes together. The team moved very well in all the races we participated in, we are proud of what it has shown us and a round of applause must be given to all the girls, none excluded. Cristina and Alessia came to us only this year but we strongly believed in them from the very first day, what they showed us demonstrated that we made the right choice. We know that there is still a long way to go, but we hope that these results can dare a further boost to the morale of the team ”.