The tournament held in Heerenveen, the Netherlands, proved to be a proper dress rehearsal as well as the last test of strength, for the Italian national team before the Budapest World Cup.
The ladies’ relay team showed an excellent performance and clinched the win edging ahead of the relay squads of the Netherlands, France and Great Britain. The men, however, fell out in the heats already.
The most successful Italian among the ladies was Arianna Fontana, who earned the fifth overall position after having taken the third place in 1000 and 1500m. Lucia Peretti also produced a remarkable result skating home second in 1000m. Elena Viviani finished seventh in 1000m and eighth in 500m. In the men’s field Nicola Rodigari earned the sixth overall spot, which was mostly due to his fourth place in 1500m.
“It was a weekend spent on an ice difficult to control. The team is still in the preparation phase; still I could see many promising signs. It’s not easy to produce good results in all distances if you are not in full swing, – said Mr Kenan Gouadec, head coach. I, however, am convinced that we’re on the right path towards the first stop of the Olympic qualifying World Cup series.”
