Olympic road race champion Paolo Bettini won the 63rd edition of the Trofeo Matteotti (4h45m Average 42.841km/h). At the finish line in Pescara, the World Champion sprinted ahead of Francesco Reda (NGC Medical) and Pasquale Muto (team Miche Silver Cross) in a 5 –man breakaway. This is the second season victory for the 34 year old athlete from Team QUICK STEP, following his success in Dobbiaco in the first stage of the Tour of Austria. This is further confirmation of his top form, with 20 days to go until the Olympics, where Bettini will be called upon to defend the gold medal he won in 2004 at Athens.
“I wanted this victory” – explains Paolo Bettini – “the team was magnificent. At the beginning of the race we lost Grabovskyy to an ailment and Scarselli for a problem on his right knee. Tonti, Proni and Visconti gave 100% to allow me to win this race, and I cannot but thank them. The Matteotti race is the conclusion of a very intense training cycle we’ve been undergoing these days on the roads of Abruzzo. We feel good and our pedalling is improving day by day. It was definitely a good test considering the distance (190 km) and the temperature, which remained steady at about 35 degrees.”
Bettini will now finish his Olympic preparations at the Tour of the Wallone Region. “ I’ll race in Belgium starting next Saturday, then I’m flying to Spain to participate in the San Sebastian Classic. The goal is to grow further in order to be in top form when I get to Beijing.”