Daniele Braidot had enough of a gap to allow himself to control and calculate to secure his Internazionali d’Italia Series overall success. The CS Carabinieri Italian did just that: third place in Alpago was more than enough.
Nevertheless, the final stage of the series was not the family duel some had anticipated, and eventually, it was Cameron Orr (Wilier-Pirelli) who took the stage win, finishing in 1:20:03. The British rider broke the resistance of Luca Braidot (Santa Cruz-Rockshox) only in the final metres after a tough race due to the scorching weather.
Behind them, Daniele Braidot finished in third place with a gap of 23 seconds to the winner, taking the necessary points to secure first place in the general classification. With 280 points, Braidot preceded his twin brother with 215, while the third step went to Simone Avondetto (Wilier-Pirelli) with 195 points.
“Winning the Internazionali d’Italia Series is what I wanted, I had never made it before and I am very happy to have reached this goal. Today it was very hot, and we were close until the final phases of the race. I tried to win, but others had something more than me today. That’s OK, the overall was the number one goal,” said Daniele Braidot after the finish line.
The race was very close until the final acts, with six athletes in the front: in addition to the Braidot twins and Orr, Filippo Fontana (CS Carabinieri), Gioele Bertolini (Trinx Factory Team), and Alessio Agostinelli (KMT-Protek-Elettrosystem). The six set the pace in the first four laps before Agostinelli lost the company’s wheels.
Among the five left in front, nobody was able to make a clear difference, despite the attacks of the Braidot twins in the penultimate lap. The situation was decided in the last lap, when Cameron Orr unleashed the decisive acceleration, followed closely by Luca Braidot, while Daniele pursues them a few metres behind. Only in the final kilometres did the Briton break the resistance of the Santa Cruz-Rockshox rider, presenting himself in solo fashion on the finish line.
“I didn’t expect to be able to win today, it’s an incredible success. I ride in front until the end and on the last lap I tried to pull away from the others, and it went well. Surely, it was a great weekend for Wilier-Pirelli, tonight there is something to celebrate”, said Cameron Orr.
Gioele Bartolini finished fourth, with Filippo Fontana closing out the top five. Alessio Agostinelli had to switch to the sixth position. Among Under 23s, Emanuele Vega Bocchio (ASD Rock Bike Team) won the stage, while Emanuele Andreas Vittone (KTM-Protek-Elettrosystem) took the overall.
