11-06-2009 13:54:36

While a part of the team is still in Canada for the Tour de PEI, five girls of the Selle-Italia Ghezzi are in Spain, in the Basque Country, to contest in the stage race of 2.1 category Iurreta-Emakumeen Bira. Fabiana Luperini, who yesterday was eighth in the Durango-Durango, will be the leader of the team: with her there will be also Kaytee Boyd, Lorena Foresi, Oxana Kozonchuk and Sabrina Zogli.
The Emakumeen Bira, like all races that are disputed in the Basque country, is characterized by a route very hard and full of hills so that it often emphasized the climber skills of Fabiana Luperini: the italian champion wo the general classification in 2006 while in 2004 she was third. The sports director who will follow the team on this occasion, Fortunato Lacquaniti, is very confident for the race: "Fabiana had a period of pretty intense training but yesterday she went pretty well, she was with the best on the climb and she suffered only a little the last 10 km downhill in which she preferred not to risk more than necessary. All the best rider will start in the Emakumeen Bira so the race will be an excellent test for the condition». Tomorrow the race will begin with the Iurreta-Iurreta while the final stage of the basque race will be on sunday 14 in Orduña.
At the Tour de PEI, however, Martine Bras after a fifth place in the first stage takes a good third place in the third fraction confirming her good shape: it remains only two stages and the best Selle Italia-Ghezzi in the general classification (as determined almost only by the spectacular but windy time trial of the second day) is Luisa Tamanini, eleventh, and between today and tomorrow she will try to gain some positions.