This season Rachele Barbieri is focusing mainly on road cycling, but she is also still successful in track cycling. On Monday she won the gold medal on the omnium at the European championships in Munich. Earlier in the championships she took silver with the Italian team in the team pursuit.
“The Italian team is strong, so I was very happy to be part of the squad. I arrived in Munich in good shape, the road races before had done me good. I just needed to dot the I’s and cross the t’s, because the last track race was a while ago.”
After the silver in the team pursuit, she took gold in the omnium. Rachele Barbieri trumped the French Clara Copponi (silver) and the Polish Daria Pikulik (bronze). “The team pursuit was already beautiful. We were focused and committed and showed a fantastic team performance. But the omnium exceeded all expectations. I am very happy with this European champion’s jersey. The omnium is a special event, it is on the Olympic calendar.”
On Tuesday she will do the madison with Silvia Zanardi. This weekend she will be at the start of the European road race. “The track successes have given me even more morale. I’m really looking forward to the European road race. It’s the first time that I’ll do this race in the elite category. After that I will quickly rejoin Liv Racing Xstra for the Simac Ladies Tour. There I want to finish the road season in a good, strong way.”