"The sun is shining" at the 22nd Marlene Südtirol Sunshine Race, the HC race, which is the fourth round of the Italia Bike Cup Chaoyang. The 4.2-kilometre circuit through the characteristic apple orchards and vineyards of Nals enchanted the mountain bikers today.

The steep "Nightingale Ascent" with hairpin bends and breathtaking views of the Adige Valley and the cities of Bolzano and Merano in the distance, the technical descents in the forest and more made the Sunshine Race a race that highlighted the bikers' riding qualities.

The elite men's race was fiercely contested from start to finish, with riders riding single file across the finish line on the starting lap. A small group of 14 athletes broke away on the first lap, including U23 MTB world champion Simone Avondetto, favorite Luca Braidot and Pole Bartlomiej Wawak. On the second lap, the pace picked up and Wawak from Poland rode at the front of the now halved group, immediately followed by Bair, Avondetto, Braidot, Philipp and Fontana. Things got exciting on the third lap when Daniele Braidot tried to break away, while behind him Wawak, Philipp and Fontana lost ground.

On the very next lap, the move was abandoned and Braidot was caught by the group again. On the last lap, the Frenchman Dubau made a decisive maneuver, gaining 15 seconds on the chasing group with Wawak, Colledani and Avondetto. With a fast time of 1h20'13", Frenchman Dubau took victory ahead of Nadir Colledani, the winner of last year's Marlene Südtirol Sunshine Race, while Simone Avondetto repeated his third place from 2022 after a sprint with Philippe.

The women's race got off to an immediately exciting start, with Austria's Laura Stigger and Italy's Giada Specia alone at the front, while Giorgia Marchet and Jitka Cabelicka tried to close the gap. Chiara Teocchi reshuffled the maps and was back on the two breakaway riders on the second lap, while Sara Cortinovis from Bergamo was 8 seconds behind. Further back followed local hero Eva Lechner, who was accompanied by loud cheers from the crowd on every lap.

The race featured constant twists and turns, and on the third lap Specia closed the gap to Teocchi, who was 22 seconds behind. On the final lap, Specia took the lead again, still with a 15-second advantage, with Teocchi in second place, followed by Tauber and U23 rider Cortinovis. There was great jubilation at the finish line when Giada Specia won the 22nd edition of the race with a time of 1h19'27". She was immediately embraced by team manager Massimo Debertolis. The Belluno native broke the spell that had lasted since 2014: the last Italian to win was Eva Lechner in 2013. Chiara Teocchi finished second, just 34 seconds behind, with Anne Tauber from the Netherlands in third place.

In the junior women's race, Valentina Corvi was in front on the first lap. She was followed by Austria's Katrin Embacher and Italy's Elisa Lanfranchi. The changing of the guard took place on the next lap, when the Austrian Embacher took the lead together with her compatriot Eva Herzog and Valentina Corvi. With a time of 51'55", the Austrian Embacher won ahead of Eva Herzog and the Italian Valentina Corvi, who celebrated her 18th birthday in third place and wore the leader's jersey of the Italia Bike Cup Chaoyang Circuit.

However, the juniors were the first to start at 9.30 am. The race was fiercely contested after the starting lap, with a quartet from the group of Aostan rider Gabriel Borre, South Tyrolean Elian Paccagnella, Englishman Max Greensill and Dominik Hödlmoser immediately breaking away, while Davide Donati, Luca Fregata and Alex Pelucchini were further back. The decisive move was made by the strong Borre, who crossed the finish line on the second lap with a 15-second lead over his pursuers Greensill and Paccagnella. A frenetic pace from Borre, who extended his lead to 27 seconds over Greensill and Paccagnella on the third lap, who rode practically the entire race together and studied each other before the final sprint. The crowd in Nals applauded the solo action of Gabriel Borre, who finished the last part of the race strongly and took first place with a time of 58:04 minutes. The final sprint for second place was won by favorite Paccagnella against Greensill.

Tomorrow the races for the student and youth categories (1st and 2nd year) are on the program, the start is at 9.30 am.

Full results Nals