Viviani and crew break 20-year Italian national record
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Italy's Liam Bertazzo, Italy's Simone Consonni, Italy's Elia Viviani and Italy's Francesco Lamon compete in the Men's Team pursuit qualification during the 2016 Track Cycling World Championships
Italy's Liam Bertazzo, Italy's Simone Consonni, Italy's Elia Viviani and Italy's Francesco Lamon compete in the Men's Team pursuit qualification during the 2016 Track Cycling World Championships
Italy's Liam Bertazzo, Italy's Simone Consonni, Italy's Elia Viviani and Italy's Francesco Lamon compete in the Men's Team pursuit qualification during the 2016 Track Cycling World Championships
Italy's Elia Viviani celebrates after winning the Men's Omnium competition at the Track Elite European Championships
Gold medalist Elia Viviani of Italy (L) competes with silver medalist Lasse Norman Hansen of Denmark during the Men's Omnium competition at the Track Elite European Championships
Italy provided the shock of the day in the team pursuit at the UCI Track World Championships by breaking a 20-year national record and setting up a semi-final ride against Great Britain on Thursday.
Elia Viviani, Liam Bertazzo, Simone Consonni and Francesco Lamon were the third team off in the afternoon session but only Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand could better the Italians' time of 3:57.800. The previous record of 4:02.752 had been set by Mauro Trentini, Adler Capelli, Cristiano Citton and Andrea Collinelli in Manchester back in 1996, a memory not lost on National Technical Coach Davide Cassani and fellow professional rider Giovanni Lombardi, who both watched today’s effort from the Italian pits in centre of the track.
"I’m really happy for the young guys in the team because they’ve worked a lot in the last year,” Viviani told Cyclingnews after his warm-down.
Vivani’s inclusion in the event was somewhat of a surprise with the Team Sky rider riding the Scratch race in the evening session on Day One and then competing in the two-day Ominum. However the Italian stressed that the Omnium remains his prime target during these championships and he has been clearly earmarked as one of he favourites alongside Mark Cavendish, Fernando Gaviria and defending Olympic champion, Lasse Norman Hansen.
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Daniel Benson was the Editor in Chief at Cyclingnews.com between 2008 and 2022. Based in the UK, he joined the Cyclingnews team in 2008 as the site's first UK-based Managing Editor. In that time, he reported on over a dozen editions of the Tour de France, several World Championships, the Tour Down Under, Spring Classics, and the London 2012 Olympic Games. With the help of the excellent editorial team, he ran the coverage on Cyclingnews and has interviewed leading figures in the sport including UCI Presidents and Tour de France winners.
