Marco Manenti swept to victory in the first stage of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Regional Tour for amateur cyclists, the Palazzolo dello Stella-Buttrio route of 156 kilometers. The rider from Bergamo of Team Hopplà won the sprint, narrowly beating Colombian Santiago Umba (XDS Astana Development) and Spaniard Hector Alvarez from Lidl Trek Future Racing. This marks the seventh seasonal victory for the 2002-born rider from Treviglio, who has been highly successful in Italy.

The race came alive thanks to the breakaway initiated by Clemmensen (Red Bull Rookies), Greenwood (Decathlon Development), and Casagrande (Tudor U23), who were later joined at the head of the race by Alvarez himself and Enea Sambinello (UAE Gen Z), who attacked 23 km from the finish on the penultimate climb at Ruttars, but were caught by the peloton with less than 3 km to go.

Marco Manenti admits this was a completely unexpected success: "I'm still struggling to fully realize it. Being part of a club team, we rarely get to race against competitors of this level. If someone had told me at the start of the race that I would finish first, I wouldn't have bet a penny. Kilometer after kilometer, I felt calm and sensed my legs were working well. Towards the end, I knew I was a good sprinter, I positioned myself well and attacked at the right moment".

Just two days before his twenty-third birthday, Marco Manenti gifts himself the top step of the podium and offers a special dedication: "I want to thank everyone who made this success possible, starting with the people who have always been present in my life: my family, my teammates from the youth categories until today, as well as my president who, with numerous sacrifices, has put together this team".

Tomorrow's second stage will run from Porpetto to Teor, covering 167 km, completely flat and favoring the fast wheels of the peloton. Start at 12:30 and expected arrival around 16:20.

FINAL STANDINGS

1 MANENTI Marco Team Hopplà

2 UMBA Santiago XDS Astana Development Team

3 ÁLVAREZ Héctor Lidl-Trek Future Racing

4 RAVBAR Anze UAE Team Emirates Gen Z

5 BORTOLUZZI Giovanni General Store-Essegibi-F.Ili Curia

6 BASSO Davide SC Padovani Polo Cherry Bank

7 BELLETTA Dario So.L.Me. - Olmo

8 GOJKOVIC Nicolas Pogi Team Gusto Ljubljana

9 NEGRENTE Mattia XDS Astana Development Team

10 SCALCO Matteo VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizan