Cesenatico, 10 maggio 2025 – The opening day of Challenge Cesenatico gave a whiff of the spectacle that awaits us tomorrow, with a notable participation of athletes and spectators and exciting races. In the spotlight today were the men’s and women’s sprint distance races and the junior duathlon events (6 – 15 years). As per tradition, it was the girls who started the dancing. The women’s race started at 9.45 a.m. with Asia Mercatelli and Giorgia Messori immediately setting an unsustainable pace for the pursuers. Already at the exit from the water the two athletes made a compact duet, continuing the collaboration throughout the 20km cycling fraction. On entering T2, Mercatelli gave the pace a decisive jolt, taking the lead from the very first metres of the run.
The 5 km run decided the placing for the medals. Mercatelli, for Team 707, came out on top, securing the most valuable medal and forcing Messori to put the K3 Cremona bodysuit on the second step of the podium. Surprisingly, instead, the bronze medal of the day was won by Lisa Perticari, of the Cesena Triathlon, thanks to a superlative running fraction, which from 5th position out of the T2 zone earned her the podium by right.
At 13:15 it was the turn of the men’s event, with over 250 athletes on the start line on the sand overlooking the Colonia Agip. A race which, despite not making great selections in the swimming fraction, saw the Angelini brothers, bearers of the G.S. Fiamme Oro, take the lead and break clear of the group in the cycling fraction.
The most valuable medals were awarded in the running fraction, in which Samuele Angelini preceded his brother Fiorenzo by over a minute. 54’36‘ was the time recorded on the finish line by Samuele and 55’56’ for Fiorenzo. The fight for bronze was between Matej Marek, athlete from the Czech Republic, and Francesco Macrelli for the Cesena Triathlon team. A long head-to-head battle preceded Macrelli’s final sprint to complete the men’s podium.
Record numbers for the Duathlon Kids, which saw more than 150 young athletes, aged 6 to 15, competing in an exciting duathlon event.
A great success that testifies to how much the organisation, institutions and partners strongly believe in the promotion of sport among the youngest, in a perfect mix of educational values and fun.
