South Tyrol's cyclists celebrate with Antonella Bellutti

On the 20th anniversary of winning the gold medal in the pursuit race at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Antonella Bellutti, who also won gold in the points race four years later in Sidney, did not want to miss the date. Nino Lazzarotto and his helpers once again worked hard to give the celebration a great setting. “I owe a lot of my success to these officials who recognized the potential in me. After my athletics career, you spurred me on to achieve top performance in cycling,” said the successful Olympian.

“Antonella’s successes were very important. She was a role model for many others and made a significant contribution to the fact that many South Tyroleans took cycling into their hearts. Many others have emerged from their successes and we are very proud that we can celebrate the great achievements of our cyclists here today,” said Nino Lazzarotto, President of the South Tyrol Regional Cycling Association.

Many “Azzurri” present

Lazzarotto's invitation to the Griesserhof near Vahrn was followed by Manuel Quinziato, Eva Lechner, Anna Zita Stricker, Elena Pirrone, Alessia Vigilia, Johannes Von Klebelsberg, Lisa Rabensteiner, Anna Oberparleiter, Maximilian Vieider and Manuel Cazzaro. “We have a great team that also includes athletes like Veronika Widmann, Alessia Missiaggia, Gerhard Kerschbaumer, Fabian Rabensteiner, Jakob Dorigoni, Greta Seiwald and Claudia Schuler. We are proud of them and their results. We are confident about the future, especially thanks to achievements like those of Alessia Missiaggia at the last Downhill World Championships in the junior age group, or of Alessia Vigilia in the juniors at the European Road Cycling Championships,” Lazzarotto continued.

Manuel Quinziato: “A special jersey”

But it wasn't just the young cyclists who delivered strong performances in recent months. Manuel Quinziato also made people sit up and take notice with his results. At the age of 36, he became the Italian time trial champion. He also took second place at the World Championships in Doha. “It was a special victory for me because I have wanted this for a long time. I once became U23 European time trial champion, but I was still missing this title at national level. That's what made it so special for me. Also because I didn't actually want to take part in this race after the Giro, which cost a lot of substance. But my fitness coach Dario Broccardo (he was also present in Vahrn, editor's note) gave me a week's break and then I slowly started training again. On race day I was extremely focused.”

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South Tyrol's cyclists celebrate with Antonella Bellutti

The two-time Olympic champion from Bolzano took part in the traditional end of the season of the South Tyrol Regional Cycling Association on Thursday. All cyclists who wore the Italian national team jersey over the course of the season were celebrated.

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