Gerhard Kerschbaumer (TX Active Bianchi)(Image credit: Tour of Japan)
Marco Fontana (Cannondale) on the podium(Image credit: Photopress.be)
Eva Lechner (Italy)(Image credit: Armin Küstenbrück)
Three mountain bikers will represent Italy at the 2012 London Olympic Games in August. The nation qualified two men and one woman per the UCI Olympic qualification process.
Italy's team manager Hubert Pallhuber picked Marco Fontana and Gerhard Kerschbaumer as the two men who will go to London while Eva Lechner will be the sole female representative.
After the four World Cups this spring, Fontana is ranked seventh in the elite men's overall standings while Kerschbaumer is fourth among the U23s. In the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, Fontana finished fifth.
2012 will be the young Kerschbaumer's first Olympics. He wore the Italian and European champion's jerseys in 2011 and took three wins in Italy and a second position at U23 World Cup in South Africa earlier this season.
"I'm really happy I've been selected for the Olympics. I'll try to show what I am worth and to pay Pallhuber back for his trust in me," said Kerschbaumer.
Lechner is 17th overall in the 2012 World Cup. She finished 16th in Beijing.
