Nice performances at the World Championships A good day for the riders of Merida Italia Team at the World Championships of Vallnord, in Andorra, with two athletes in the top 20.
In Val di Sole the weather had surprised everyone on the race, and also in Andorra was repeated the same condition. The track of Vallnord has never made headlines for its technical difficulties, but the overnight rain made it rougher, just like in Val di Sole, thus complicating the work to all the athletes. Regarding the race results, Gioele Bertolini has recovered happiness from the disappointing performance of the final World Cup, hooking the top 10 from the second lap and holding it until the end. Another time a flat has penalized him, but he has still managed to get a nice sixth place, which bodes well for his remaining two years of competition in the category U23. Stefano Valdrighi has made a remarkable recovery: starting with the number 80, has already catched the top 30 at the end of the first lap, then recovering again during the whole race and coming to conquer the fourteenth place on the finish linel. Considering what he made since the stage of Lenzerheide, is certainly possible say that now the athlete permanently fight for high level positions in the international arena. Unfortunately, a bad day for Alessandro Naspi, stopped in the third round by a puncture in the farthest point from the assistance zone, just when he had reached the top 40, despite starting with the dorsal number 95. Ale has finished the race in 57th place, immediatly after his teammate Lorenzo Samparisi (56th), certainly not in one of his best days.