ITALIAN C1 ZOOPARK by Tommaso Vian

Oct 07, 2020

Written by Bart de Jong

Read 2992 times

Finally I have been at the ZooPark! I've travelled with VFL towards Priero to attend the C1 that Alessandro and the Italian federation organized in the park which he built near his house. I expected to have an epic day with Daniel Dhers, Daniel Wedemeijer, Nikita Ducarroz and all the athletes from our national team.

We crossed all of northern Italy, passing through Voghera to retrieve Patrick (@patriziodeturana), the best speaker in the game, up and down the hills of Barolo without even being able to taste at least a glass, pushing to start our working weekend. Unfortunately we also drove through villages severely affected by the previous day's flooding, a torment to see.

Arrived for dinner we joined the national team for a quick pizza in front of their hotel. In the team there were two newcomers, the guys who participated in the Italian championship a few weeks ago, Lucas Vega and Christian Ceresato. Unfortunately a lot of the other guys are missing due to ongoing injury.

We not stayed up late, just a couple of extra beers at the end of the dinner and straight to our rooms, Ale booked us two rooms in the hotel next to his house, so we were close by. We woke up fresh and rested

on a wonderful sunny morning and go to the park at around nine, needing plenty of time to set my mate editing station and to do a bit of reconnaissance before the athletes start riding, I've never been here! The fear of rain that was announced in the afternoon lifted up the level of the qualifications. The three top players, Ale Barbero and Daniel & Daniel, battled it out even if always with a smile on. The delegate of the federation wisely let Nikita, who was the only woman, run with all the boys, so she got cheered up and showed us some stylish tricks.

I took the opportunity for some different photos, thinking to have plenty of time to take the banger sequences during the finals. Unfortunately I was wrong, the rain, that seemed impossible on the morning given the beautiful sun, is around the corner when we returned to the park after the break. There was just time for announcing the line-up and the first heat of finals before it starts to rain, ruining the party for everyone. It was clear that the final ranking would have been taken from the qualifying results.

Luckily all the guys take it well and thanks to the brewery sponsor of the event we move under the judges' tent and kick off the party, which continues until dinner and beyond. We film some on the spot interviews with the super professional Patrick taking the role of interviewer, and then we take down everything.
Summing up, it was a really dope event, the crowd found a moment of respite from the difficult situation of the flood and saw their favorite, Alessandro Barbero, take home the victory, followed by Dhers and Wedemeijer. Fourth the excellent Gabriele Pala (first in the junior category), who continues to show that he's trying to follow Ale's steps as best as possible. A little unfortunate Martin Habada (CZE), and Maxime Orsini (FRA) that did not express their true potential on the qualification runs.

Only one regret, what final would have been without the rain! The athletes wanted to give the best possible show and snatch a smile from those in the audience who had lost so much the night before.

Text/pics by Tommaso Vian

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Stay tuned for the next report on the freestyle scene in Italy on @tommasovian.ph, venicefreestyle.comand Venice Freestyle social media

Results 2° Zoo BMX Pro Challenge, Freestyle Park contest - Priero - Ceva CN - 03 October 2020

Men Park:
1 BARBERO Alessandro ITA 200 points
2 DHERS Daniel VEN 160
3 WEDEMEIJER Daniel NED 130
4 PALA Gabriele ITA 110
5 BETTASSA Emanuel ITA 90
6 BROŽA Jan CZE 70
7 BENETTON Elia ITA 50