FRANCESCO DE FABIANI JUMPS ON THE PODIUM IN COGNE

Francesco De Fabiani puts the turbo and grabs the podium of dreams in the home event, the sprint in free technique of Cogne, closing behind the teammate, Federico Pellegrino.

Cogne, Italy – Feb. 14th 2019 - Wonderful, incredible second place in a World Cup sprint for Francesco De Fabiani, the one which took place in Cogne, in front of a fantastic crowd in a day that’s much more than an unforgettable postcard.

At the end of the morning qualifying session, Defast was 7th, in the trial dominated by the world champion, Federico Pellegrino. Each successive step then allowed the skier from Gressoney to arrive, being one of the lucky loosers of the semi-final, even to the final.

With an aggressive race in the final, the alpine of CSE has even attacked along the climb entitled "Cento Perruchon", to be then chased back by the couple Pellegrino-Chanavat.

The last few meters were a blaze for the Italian national team, with Pellegrino triumphing on De Fabiani and Lucas Chanavat in third place on a perhaps unrepeatable day.

«What an incredible day, I am more than just happy – says Francesco – the crowd was a crazy hell!. We did not know what to expect, we hoped to see many people, but today they were really so many and very warm with us, I have to thank them one by one! Only at the 50 km of Oslo there are so many supporters and so much warmth. I got on the podium of a sprint, which amazes me a lot and the merit is also of those who pushed me screaming along the climbs».

The sprint of Cogne was very hard indeed: «Yes, you race at high altitude and this makes it more and more difficult for several athletes – continues Defast – the track was selective and I knew that the first climb would allow me to try to make the selection. Even in my dreams I would have imagined an Italian double with Federico first and I second! Crazy!».

Tomorrow in Cogne there will be the 15 km in classic: «I am very motivated, that's my distance, my legs are fine and my head too. We hope to do well for these wonderful fans».

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Press Office of Francesco De Fabiani