The 2012 Italian National Championship, held in Valsugana-Trentino, turned out to be one of the most spectacular in recent memory. Franco Pellizotti was its clear and well-deserved winner, soloing on the finish line in Borgo Valsugana at the end of an extremely tough race. Danilo Di Luca took second place by outsprinting Moreno Moser, who provided another brilliant show of his outstanding talent.
The day’s top 10 was packed with some of the top names in today’s cycling: Giampaolo Caruso was fourth, ahead of Vincenzo Nibali and Michele Scarponi. Pellizotti broke clear on the final passage (out of 15) on dreadful Telve climb, messing up Liquigas-Cannondale pair plans: Nibali was a protagonist, but still has to reach the top condition he wishes to find at the Tour de France, while neo-pro Moser provided one more classy performance, even though he had to stick with third on the day. Even brighter days will come soon.
Everybody knew the Valsugana’s route was very severe, but pouring rain throughout the whole morning time made it even tougher for the rider – only 16 riders could make it to the finish. But one man was about to blow everyone’s plans, that being Michele Scarponi. The Lampre-ISD rider worked his way into an early break, and forced his rivals to chase. “Michele was a moral victor, as he made a great show. On the other hand, Franco is the deserving and legitimate new Italian champion,” Italian National Team Coach Paolo Bettini stated. While his teammate Damiano Cunego ended up his race in advance, Scarponi led the race until fellow favorites got back on him and eventually dropped him.
Daniel Oss, Liquigas was leading the first half of the race, looking like he had a perfect grip on the race with two men out of six at the front (Caruso, Pellizotti, Di Luca and Scarponi were the others), but Nibali clearly wasn’t at his best.
Franco Pellizotti was instead, and in a few seconds he managed to leave behind years of bitterness and – possibly – unfairness. Watching him so emotional on the podium was touching, in such a great day for the new “Tricolore” champion. “Since my comeback, today’s race was my main focus. Honestly, I considered myself a favorite for this race, as I was feeling really good. In the penultimate lap, I realized I was the strongest in the uphill sections, and so it was time to dig deep.” The final classification tells the rest of the story itself.
