Matteo Malucelli made history when he won stage 1 of Giro di Sicilia, and that too without his team. Earlier this year, he was laid off from Gazprom-Rusvelo when UCI decided to ban all Russian and Ukrainian teams from participating in events. The final moments were very critical as Malucelli had to go against Matteo Moschetti (Trek-Segafredo).
Team Trek-Segafredo had the lead in the event, and Moschetti was in the front. Although he could not keep this performance up for long, during the close stretch of the race Malucelli caught up to him and took the win. Malucelli also shared the podium with Filippo Fiorelli (Bardiani-CSF-Faizané) who came third.
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Matteo Malucelli currently rides for Daniele Bennati’s national team in Sicily, this is after the sudden demise of Gazprom-Rusvelo. This is Malucelli’s first race after the UAE Tour in February, although he was a stage winner at the Tour of Antalya.
Malucelli and other riders from Gazprom-Rusvelo were selected for Giro di Sicilia. Of those five riders, there is also the inclusion of Damiano Caruso who helped Malucelli achieve this win.
Matteo Malucelli said:
This has come at a difficult moment, and I hope this won’t be my last win as a professional because for the moment, I’m without a team. With my former team, we worked very well during the off-season in training camps, and the results were coming. Today we showed that we were on the right road and that we would have been dangerous this season.
The situation is going to heat up as Matteo Malucelli has the lead for stage 2, in which riders will fight through the rugged terrains of Sicily’s Interior. Team Trek-Segafredo needs to change their overall tactics as their strategy failed with Moschetti in stage 1.
Due to this failed tactic, Alessandro Fedeli and Damiano Caruso ended up in fourth and fifth places. The event resumes soon and all eyes are on Matteo Malucelli!
Also Read: Vincenzo Nibali Doubts His Form Ahead Of Giro Di Sicilia
Featured Image Via Instagram/matteomalu
