The 27-year-old Italian Champion showed excitement for the Cyclo-cross World Cup stage in Val di Sole: “In Vermiglio the snow will make it special, it’s an important step for the entire movement, hoping to break into the Olympic Games’ program”
Snow and the charming scenery of the mountains are sure to provide a special background to the debut of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup in Val di Sole (Trentino, Italy); the rest is up to the athletes, who on December 12th in Vermiglio will put up a show in a one-hour full gas race.
On the starting grid of the Elite Women’s category (start at 13.30 CET), among others, there will be Italian National Champion Alice Arzuffi, who along with Eva Lechner carries the expectations of the home fans. The 27-year-old rider is determined to leave her mark on the race that brings back the Cyclo-cross World Cup in Italy after 5 seasons.
“Having the cyclo-cross World Cup back to Italy is great news, even more in a special location like Vermiglio and with such a peculiar technical proposal, on the snow. I can’t wait to be there”.
The San Leonardo Lakes scenery is fully covered with snow after another heavy snowfall of Wednesday, December 8th. This feature, along with the highest altitude ever reached by a World Cup race (1.261 m asl), makes the Val di Sole event unique and unpredictable at the same time.
“I have raced on snow before, but only once on a totally snow-covered surface, a few seasons ago in Hoogerheide, in the Netherlands”, said Arzuffi - “No one is a specialist in these conditions, which makes the odds even more open. To go fast in the snow you need to find the right pace, with no sudden acceleration or hard braking. The choice of tires will also be important”.
“As per the altitude – continued the Italian -, it’s hard to say how much it will affect the race, but sure thing is that we will all have the same conditions”.
While for the Men’s Elite (start at 14.55 CET), Wout Van Aert and the MTB Olympic Champion Tom Pidcock are the most awaited names, the Women’s race also boasts top-level names, such as Marianne Vos: “Vos and Betsema are definitely riders to keep an eye on. Personally speaking, in the home race I would like to make the top-10: is one of the appointments I have been looking forward to the most, together with the Italian and World Championships, if I get selected”.
The other dream of Alice Arzuffi is riding the Olympics, one day: it is no mystery that the World Cup stage in Val di Sole is strategic for the Cyclo-Cross’ bid to enter Winter Olympic Games’ program. "The World Cup in Val di Sole could open new scenarios for cyclo-cross" Arzuffi concluded. - "It's a good test for our movement. Being able to get to the Olympic Games would be a dream come true".
The program of the Cyclo-cross World Cup in Val di Sole will start on Saturday 11th December with the free practice, from 14.00 to 16.00 CET, in view of the races on Sunday 12th, anticipated by another free practice session (11.30 – 13.20 CET). The Women Elite race will start at 13.30, followed by the Men Elite at 14.55 CET.
Tickets for the event are for sale on the valdisolebikeland.com at the price of 10€. To access the event, it is compulsory to show a COVID Pass obtained exclusively following vaccination or recovery from COVID-19 in the previous six months.
