For thirteen years the Team Relay gold had remained far from Italy. It has returned home precisely on the day Val di Sole lit up its Worlds: six Italians, a relay raced with determination from the first to the last meter and, in the end, celebration in front of the home crowd.

The first Italian medal at the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships Val di Sole-Trentino is therefore the most precious one. This afternoon, Juri Zanotti, Martina Berta, Fabio Bassignana, Valentina Corvi, Paolo Costa and Giorgia Pellizotti were crowned World Champions of Team Relay. Behind them Switzerland took silver, and the United States bronze.

The medal race program opened in the morning with the E-Mountain Bike Cross-country events, where Jérôme Gilloux gave France the men's title and Anna Spielmann brought Austria to the top step in the women's competition. But the first great roar of the Val di Sole-Trentino Worlds was entirely Italian, accompanied by a moving tribute to Chiara Teocchi, the unfortunate victim of a serious crash at the World Cup in La Thuile.

VALENTINA CORVI'S SECTION PAVES THE WAY FOR ITALY

Ready and go, Italy's coaches Mirko Celestino and Nadia De Negri chose Elite Juri Zanotti to open the relay. The European silver medalist launched the Italians in the best possible way, building a small advantage over Swiss rider Halter, with the Czech Republic, Austria and the United States further back.

Austria's choice to field men in the first three sections paid off in the short term thanks to strong performances from Elite Bair and Junior Hettenger. Austria thus took the lead, with Italy in second place and Switzerland in third.

The Italians increased their advantage over the Swiss thanks to the sections of Paolo Costa and Martina Berta, while Switzerland came back into contention in the fourth section with Anina Hutter.

The fifth section proved decisive. Austria began to see its advantage narrow thanks to a rampant Valentina Corvi, who delivered a lap of the highest level. The Valtellina rider recovered 1'35" on Austrian Piringer, before dropping her in the final part of the lap, managing to open a significant gap over Switzerland ahead of the final handoff.

At that point, the last Italian leg rider, Fabio Bassignana, managed a lead of about one minute, crossing the finish line with arms raised, in front of the ecstatic Val di Sole crowd. Silver for Switzerland, 51" back, bronze for the United States at 1'31". Austria paid the price in the final section, finishing sixth, behind Canada and Denmark as well.

"Winning with the Italian jersey at the home World Championships is a special emotion," said Martina Berta. "I think it's something incredible for all of us. Juri started very strong, then we were all fantastic. Some of us delivered real performances: beating a very strong Switzerland makes us particularly proud."

During the celebrations, the Italians pulled out... a tricolor flag with a special dedication: a "Forza Chiara" dedicated to their teammate Chiara Teocchi who is facing a very difficult and complicated recovery process. A "Forza Chiara" to which we all naturally join in!