London: Selective Road Race, Sanremo Speedsuit
The Castelli equipped, Italian National Road Team, with the Italian ‘Commissario Tecnico’, Paolo Bettini, arrived in London and are finialising their preparation ahead of tomorrows’s 250km Olympic road race.
A bunch sprint has long been predicted for Saturday’s race, but Bettini has warned that any eventual winner will have to be far more than just a fast finisher. It’s not the strongest ever team to represent Italy at the Olympics, but Bettini underline that even if the team lacks a true leader, there’s plenty of talent to achieve a result.
Fresh from his third place finish at the Tour de France, Vincenzo Nibali will headline the team’s five-man roster with Elia Viviani, Sacha Modolo, Marco Pinotti (who will also be competing in the time trial), Luca Paolini, and Matteo Trentin.
“The key man is, of course, Vincenzo Nibali. Not only did he do well at the Tour, he has done great things in one-day races on courses not properly suited to his characteristics.” Bettini said to La Gazzetta dello Sport.
The Italian squad will be wearing the fastest bit of clothing ever created for road racing during Saturday’s Olympic Road Race – the SanRemo SpeedSuit.
“It is essential for the riders to position themselves properly and economise their energy on the relatively long circuit.” Bettini said.
Staying fully protected and aero over 250 kilometers, just waiting for the right moment to strike while saving extra energy is a must for the riders. The riders of Garmin-Sharp-Barracuda have been reaping the aero benefits of the SanRemo SpeedSuit for over a year now. The Italian squad for the London have been proto-testing an updated fully black version of the SanRemo Speed Suit in their preparation for the Olympic games.
SANREMO SPEED SUIT: The SanRemo SpeedSuit, jersey-and-shorts combo, effectively enables riders to wear a skinsuit in road races and thus gain an aerodynamic advantage. Testing shows that at 40km/h, the jersey saves between 12 and 15 watts of energy when compared to a standard clothing combination, worth 45 seconds in time savings.
The innovative SanRemo Speed Suit is so fast that we patented it. the Olympic colorway will remain privileged for the Italian National team, while the Sanremo Speed Suit is available in Castelli or Garmin-Sharp-Barracuda colors, or through the Castelli Custom Teamwear program – serviziocorse.com.
Get your Italian London Kit now, click here >>
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