The Giro d’Italia handbike is back and the athletes of the Active Team La Leonessa sponsored by MAK are back as protagonists with no less than five jerseys won. Merit for three category successes but also for the points collected by the 14 riders involved, which allowed the Active Sport team to keep the Fast Team red jersey, won in March in Merano and successfully defended in Valtellina.

In the women’s category, a new stage success came for the usual Simona Canipari, the reigning world champion, who had also won the opening stage and immediately made an encore in the WH1 category, confirming herself as the strongest of all. Along with her, Mirko Testa, who scored in MH3 and was awarded the white jersey as best young rider of the race, and Mirko De Cortes, overall winner of the Giro in 2022, also won in their respective categories. The Brescian finished ahead of everyone in the MH5, detaching his direct competitor Fabrizio Bove (who had beaten him in Merano) by a couple of seconds and deservedly taking back the pink jersey as leader of the category classification. To an Active Team La Leonessa athlete also the black jersey destined for the last in the ranking: in Merano it had gone to rookie Giammarco Pini, while in Tirano it was received by the legendary Giannino Piazza, unfailing in the competition (and sixth in MH1).

But in addition to the successes already mentioned, the Brescia team returned from Tirano with a long list of important placings, including no less than four podiums. In MH2 Omar Rizzato finished in second place, while Roberto Zanetti (MH0), Giuseppe Uberti (MH1) and Christian Giagnoni (MH4), a man who has also won the overall standings several times at the Giro Handbike, finished third. Top-10 placements in their respective categories also for Giammarco Pini, Franco Tonoli and Claudio Zana. “The one in Tirano,” said Sergio Balduchelli, captain of Active Team La Leonessa, “was a really beautiful race, which highlighted once again the value of all our boys. They were all fantastic, giving their best in a long and challenging international circuit. Congratulations also to the organizers, who were able to offer a race of the highest level.” “Since some stages of the Giro Handbike (the first five, ed.) have also become international races by becoming part of the UCI,” said Marco Colombo, president of Active Sport, on the other hand, “the level of the competition has risen even higher, yet our boys continue punctually to achieve great results. This further upgrade of the Giro is good news for everyone, because it allows our boys to compete in high-standard competitions and confront stronger and stronger opponents.”

2nd stage Giro Handbike 2023 – Tirano
All the results of the athletes of Active Team La Leonessa

Cat. WH1 – 1° Simona Canipari.
Cat. MH0 – 3° Roberto Zanetti.
Cat. MH1 – 3° Giuseppe Uberti, 5° Giammarco Pini, 6° Giannino Piazza.
Cat. MH2 – 2° Omar Rizzato.
Cat. MH3 – 1° Mirko Testa, 23° Fabrizio Falappi, 24° Bernardo Pasinetti, 27° Marco Dagnoni.
Cat. MH4 – 3° Christian Giagnoni, 5° Franco Tonoli, 8° Claudio Zana, 14° Mattia Guerini.
Cat. MH5 – 1° Mirko De Cortes.