It was Italy's time to shine at the UCI Road World Championships, and the three men and three women in the mixed relay team time trial delivered a long-awaited gold in the seventh edition of the event in Montreal on Tuesday.
Pulling on the rainbow jersey was an especially poignant moment for Elisa Longo Borghini, the senior member of the team, after 14 previous visits to the World Championships.
"I'm very emotional at the moment because it's been something that we've been chasing for so long, and finally we could achieve it today," Longo Borghini said. "It's my very first rainbow jersey, and it's pretty special to wear it, I have to say. So yeah, today is a good day!
Latest Videos FromCyclingnews
"I always believed in the team. It's pretty special to share this emotion with these boys and girls, and I'm so proud of them,
Italy were fastest after the men's leg, thanks in part to Filippo Ganna, the silver medalist in the individual time trial on Sunday, but he gave credit to his two teammates Matteo Cattaneo and Matteo Sobrero.
"From the start of the year, we knew we had this race where we could do really well," Ganna said.
"Unfortunately, [Edoardo] Affini needed to be here, but he was sick. Matteo [Cattaneo] was super ready for this race and showed it today. He had super legs in the final, especially in this last week.
"For sure it was the group, because many times I've arrived second or third. It was not easy to be resilient and try to keep this result, but yeah, we are happy, and now we try to celebrate together for the first rainbow."
Longo Borghini was also impressed with her teammates Monica Trinca Colonel and Vittoria Guazzini, who worked smoothly together.
"For us, it was very important to have a good synergy between each other, good changes, and a good rhythm. We had Vittoria - her task was to pull the last kilometre until the last corner, and I had to do the last part uphill until the finish line."
For Ganna, the gold doesn't necessarily make up for the silver in the individual time trial, but it was a welcome result.
"It's two different medals; it's two different disciplines," Ganna said. "I came here obviously for my individual time trial, but Remco was super fast, a super good guy, and his performance was super nice. I gave my maximum. But today was another race. We've been thinking about this race since yesterday, and taking the jersey was super, super nice."
Subscribe to Cyclingnews for comprehensive race coverage of both the UCI Road and Gravel World Championships, alongside the final monument of the season, Il Lombardia. Subscribers get unlimited access to exclusive analysis from our expert columnists, in-depth features and industry-leading tech insight. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.
