The 78th Gran Premio della Liberazione concluded this afternoon with the "queen race". At 2 PM, from Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 160 Under 23 riders representing 33 teams from around the world faced 23 laps of the challenging 6-kilometer circuit, hunting for victory in what is considered the "youth world championship": Lorenzo Masciarelli, from MBH Bank Ballan Csb, triumphed on the straight of Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, exactly fifty years after his grandfather Palmiro!

After about ten kilometers, a quartet broke away: Danish rider Alexander Hansen (Airtox Carl Ras), Israeli Jonatan Anudraham (X-Team Hamaslul), Andrea Alfio Bruno (Hopplà), and Lorenzo Masciarelli (MBH Bank Ballan). Ten more kilometers and it became a sextet, with the addition of Stefano Leali (Sissio Team) and Hungarian Zsombor Takacs, also from MBH. When their advantage exceeded two and a half minutes, the breakaway's chances became increasingly concrete. This became almost certain when, in the second half of the race, another "ex Colpack" rider, Manuel Oioli, perfectly stopped the counterattack by Alessandro Cattani (Technipes #InEmiliaRomagna) and Tommaso Bessega (Biesse Carrera), and a courageous attempt by Tommaso Tessiore (Monaco) quickly faded, as did a subsequent sortie by Federico Biagini (VF Bardiani Csf Faizanè) and German Leon Arenz (Rembe Rad-Net).

Despite attempts by UAE Gen Z and VF Bardiani Csf Faizanè to set up a chase at the head of the peloton, it became clear that the finishing order would be the result of individual or at most pair attacks. With 20 km to go, Lorenzo Masciarelli's first burst was quickly neutralized but had the effect of dropping Anudraham and his teammate Takacs, who had been sacrificing himself by pulling. However, the Hungarian confirmed the enormous team spirit of the society led by Bevilacqua, Valoti, and the Dileo family, sticking to the wheel of another German, Bruno Kessler, who had meanwhile shot away from the group to reform a sextet at the front.

At -15 km, Filippo Turconi from Bardiani and Riccardo Lorello from Hopplà also launched a counterattack, but they failed to rejoin. Masciarelli's decisive acceleration at -8 km succeeded: he passed alone at the bell of the last lap, with the pursuers disintegrating behind him and arriving "one by one" while the Abruzzo athlete raised his arms to the capital's sky amid public jubilation. Second was Bruno Kessler (Rembe Rad-Net), third the Sicilian Andrea Alfio Bruno, fourth Alexander Hansen, fifth the exhausted Takacs who fell behind in the finale along with Stefano Leali, sixth. Riccardo Lorello came in seventh, a minute and a half behind the winner, and Filippo Turconi eighth. Gabriele Bessega (Biesse Carrera) won the group sprint ahead of Riccardo Perani (Trevigiani Energiapura Marchiol), closing the top-10, and so on.

Presenting the awards were Ministry of Education and Merit Director General Gianna Barbieri, Lazio Cycling Federation President Maurizio Brilli, GP Liberazione patron Claudio Terenzi, and Clemente Cavaliere, event sponsor with his company. A multidisciplinary talent with various successes in youth cyclocross, the 21-year-old Lorenzo Masciarelli (whose younger brother Stefano was also racing, in Aran Cucine) did not hide his strong emotion on the podium: "I've been looking for this victory for a very long time and I'm happy for the team that achieved two victories in one day, since a few hours ago Matteo Fiorin won the Caduti Nervianesi Cup near Milan. Today I started thinking of having as much fun as possible, then I joined the day's breakaway because I knew it was a nervous route. When I saw the group beginning to break up, I agreed with Zsombor and we managed it well, because whenever they got close from behind, we increased the pace. Finally, I started believing more and more and so I attacked, finding the right pedaling to close solo. And there's another reason why this result is incredibly important to me: last August, a dear friend of mine passed away, and I sought this success at all costs to dedicate it to him."

FINAL STANDINGS

1 68 MASCIARELLI LORENZO ITA MBH MBHBANK BALLAN CSB COLPACK 03:13:35
2 19 KESSLER BRUNO GER RRN REMBE/RAD-NET min. 00:28
3 112 BRUNO ANDREA ALFIO ITA TEAM HOPPLA'
4 35 HANSEN ALEXANDER ARNT DEN GSH AIRTOX - CARL RAS
5 66 TAKACS ZSOMBOR HUN MBH MBHBANK BALLAN CSB COLPACK 00:43
6 127 LEALI STEFANO ITA ASD G.C. SISSIO TEAM 00:44
7 113 LORELLO RICCARDO ITA TEAM HOPPLA' 01:27
8 65 TURCONI FILIPPO ITA VBF VF GROUP - BARDIANI CSF - FAIZANE'01:29
9 88 BESSEGA GABRIELE ITA BIE BIESSE CARRERA PREMAC 01:56
10 76 PERANI RICCARDO ITA UTC U.C TREVIGIANI ENERGIAPURA MARCHIOL
11 25 PRIETO DE LUNA JOSE JUAN MEX PTL PETROLIKE
12 103 BELLETTA DARIO IGOR ITA SOLME - OLMO
13 70 OIOLI MANUEL ITA MBH MBHBANK BALLAN CSB COLPACK
14 17 ARENZ LEON GER RRN REMBE/RAD-NET
15 61 BIAGINI FEDERICO ITA VBF VF GROUP - BARDIANI CSF - FAIZANE'
16 21 GARCIA TREJO CARLOS ALFONSO MEX PTL PETROLIKE
17 67 CIPOLLINI EDOARDO ITA MBH MBHBANK BALLAN CSB COLPACK
18 43 RAVBAR ANŽE SLO UAZ UAE TEAM EMIRATES ADNOC
19 79 FABBRO RICCARDO ITA UTC U.C TREVIGIANI ENERGIAPURA MARCHIOL
20 139 SHTIN VALERY AZT AREA ZERO CAFFE' MOKAMB