European Championships, Eleonora Ciabocco silver in the women'Under 23.

Eleonora Ciabocco, 21, of Macerata, brought Italy its third medal, silver like the first two, of the European Road Cycling Championships, being held in the south of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.

Eleonora Ciabocco, 21, of Macerata, in the Under 23 women’s road race brought Italy its third medal, silver like the first two, of the European Road Cycling Championships, being held in the south of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.

L’azzurra took the podium at the end of a beautiful comeback after finding herself chasing after a chain problem. The’gold went to Spain&#8217s Paula Blasi Cairol, already a bronze medalist at the world championships in Rwanda, who anticipated a small group of four athletes, the last remaining in an elimination race due to the hardness of the course. Ciabocco won the sprint of the platoon, which finished 9 seconds ahead of French bronze medalist Julie Bego.

“I have to give a monument to Federica Venturelli – said at the end Ciabocco, already fourth at the World Championships in Africa – who helped me fix the jammed chain and stay calm. Then he literally dragged me to catch up with the group. In the last kilometers I knew I was the fastest in the sprint. I gritted my teeth on the climb, but when Paula sprinted, at the last kilometer, we looked at each other a bit’and that allowed him to get away. Strong from the world championship experience, I waited for the sprint and I am happy with this medal”.

“It is destiny that the Spanish always take something away from us – commented Italian coach Marco Velo -: in Rwanda the medal, here the title. We were not lucky, because Eleonora was forced to make up almost two minutes on the group because of the chain problem. The team did well to help her, but she wasted energy that at the end of a tough race like today’s would certainly have been needed”.