Cycling: Eroica Juniores in Montalcino to an unleashed Proietti Gagliardoni

Montalcino, 17 May 2025 – Here it is, finally, the first Italian victory in the Eroica Juniores, the international race starting from Siena and arriving in Piazza del Popolo in Montalcino. The promising Umbrian is a wonderful protagonist Mattia Proietti Gagliardoni of the Franco Ballerini Lucchini Energy Team who, thanks to his skills also in cyclocross, flew on the dirt roads of Siena and with a magnificent finish went on to conquer the prestigious competition.

Proietti Gagliardoni, on the other hand, had shown himself to be in excellent condition a week earlier by winning a time trial in Lombardy, and was among the most highly rated Italians. His escape began 18 kilometres from the finish together with Rusconi, but fell at the entrance to the last dirt road. Proietti Gagliardoni thus had the green light for the finish line, reached with more than 1 minute of advantage over Serangeli, another of the most awaited riders.

The race with 29 teams and 151 starters, heated up along the first dirt road, about 50 kilometers from the finish. In the breakaway went Wedekind of the German national team; the German rider had a maximum lead of 40 seconds before being caught by two opponents; Tom Ions, Australian of the team Veleka e Cisneros Diaz DeLeon, Mexican from the Monex Pro Cycling Team). The trio lined up the entire group, gaining a handful of seconds on the group, which was stretched out along the first passage from Montalcino, 35 kilometers from the finish.

Once the descent from Montalcino was over, the group he came back together. Along the penultimate dirt road, less than 20 kilometers from the finish, Mattia Proietti Gagliardoni (Team Franco Ballerini) and Matteo Rusconi (Bustese) set off.

Then the fall of Matthew Rusconi which left the way open to Mattia Proietti Gagliardoni: "I knew I had to wait for the last two climbs and so I did - said the winner - then Rusconi took a curve at too high a speed and fell. I instead maintained the ideal speed and managed to hold on until the asphalt and the final climb".

The winner is at his second seasonal success; in 2024 he came second in the Italian championship, won by Lorenzo Mark Finn. "Organizing Eroica Juniores Siena-Montalcino Coppa Andrea Meneghelli is quite a challenge - says Franco Rossi, president of Eroica Italia which organizes the race - but we are rewarded by the beautiful show of these guys. Today there were really so many people along the streets, in Siena for the start and in Montalcino for the finish. In this work we are helped by so many volunteers but what helps us a lot is the passion of an area increasingly devoted to bicycle tourism and the sport of cycling".

ORDER OF ARRIVAL: 1)Mattia Proietti Gagliardoni (Team Franco Ballerini) km 107,7 in 2h49'02" average km 38,229; 2)Giacomo Serangeli (Vangi Il Pirata) at 1'02"; 3)Riccardo Colombo (Bustese) at 1'54"; 4)Ilya Slesarenko (Veleka Team) at 1'55"; 5)Filip Novak (Ciclistica Trevigliese) at 2'08"; 6)Fabio Segatta (US Montecorona); 7)Gabriele Scagliola (Ciclistica Rostese); 8)Mattia Ballerini (Team Vangi Il Pirata) at 2'17"; 9)Rosario Federico Brafa (Energy Team) at 2'38"; 10)Matteo Tudurachi (Romania) at 2'40".