March 12, 2023

Filippo Fortin second at Grand Prix Adria Mobil

Filippo Fortin misses the overall victory at the Grand Prix Adria Mobil in Nove Mesto, but shows again his good spring form with the second place. It is already the second podium finish for him after third place in the first stage of the Tour of Taiwan.

Tags

Filippo Fortin, GP Adria Mobil, Maloja, Pushbikers, Slovenia, team

It was close: Filippo Fortin misses out on overall victory at the Grand Prix Adria Mobil in Nove Mestro, but once again shows his good spring form with second place. It is already the second podium finish for him after third place in the first stage of the Tour of Taiwan.

At the beginning of the race, two challenging climbs had to be mastered before the race entered the circuit of Novo Mesto after 103 of the total 180 kilometres. The goal of the Pushbikers was to occupy possible breakaway groups in the first part of the race. In this case, Felix Meo did a great job. In the final it was Liam Bertazzo’s job to stay with Filippo Fortin so that he could put in as little effort as possible and concentrate on the sprint. Filippo already won this race in 2016 and 2018 and was therefore one of the favourites.

“Filippo and I know what to do without talking much to each other and we harmonise very well, so it’s easy for us to work together,” said Liam Bertazzo after the race. “For my part, I tried to do my best, even though I lack a bit of race rhythm in my legs, but in the end it went well. I am satisfied with our teamwork, we worked together towards a goal. And we were close to winning! I’m happy about the cohesion of the boys and the friendship between us.”

Our Pushbikers had to earn their participation in the 2023 La Route Adélie de Vitré the following weekend. With seven teams in the field competing in this year’s Tour de France, it was a first-class category 1.1 race of almost 200 km. It was a stormy spring day in Brittany, over 198 km in Breton conditions with rain, sun as well as partly very strong gusts of wind. The field was constantly challenged on the six big laps and the eight finishing laps. Filippo Fortin and Fabian Steininger were able to ride at the front of the peloton for a long time until a breakaway group broke away and Fredrik Dversnes (Uno-X Pro Cycling) crossed the finish line first. Even if it wasn’t a top result for the Pushbikers in France, thanks to our guys for the effort!