2010 Oceania champion stays in Italy after folding of Team Valdarno
Bridie O’Donnell heads the list of new signings to arrive at the Top Girls-Fassa Bortolo-Ghezzi Team for 2011. The 2010 Oceania champion, and former Australian time trial champion, spent the 2010 season riding for Team Valdarno, often in the service of World champion Tatiana Guderzo and Italian champion Monia Baccaille, but the team has folded after just one season.
The 36-year-old from Brisbane, Queensland, who gave up her career as a doctor to concentrate on riding full-time, is among four new signings for the orange and blue team. The three other new riders are all Italians and consist of: 22-year-old Simona Frapporti, who moves from Vaiano Solaristech, 28-year-old Elisa Longo Borghini and 18-year-old Giulia Ronchi.
O’Donnell’s biggest result of the year came last January when she finished second in both the Australian Championships road race and time trial. She rode the European season in support of her teammates however, rarely offered the chance of personal glory. So determined was she to qualify for the World Championships in her adopted city of Melbourne last November though, that she attacked alone in the Oceania road race and won by 9’32”. The title gave her an automatic place in the Australian team in the first ever road World Championships in the country.
The team is losing a number of riders including multiple Slovenian champion Sigrid Corneo, who has retired and Marta Tagliaferro, who joins former World champions Tatiana Guderzo, Nicole Cooke and Marta Bastianelli at the new MCipollini-Giordana team.
Top Girls-Fassa Bortolo-Ghezzi team for 2011:
Elena Berlato, Valentina Carretta, Jennifer Fiori, Simona Frapporti, Bridie O’Donnell, Elisa Longo Borghini, Gloria Presti Giulia Ronchi and Silvia Valsecchi.