Winning debut for Wilier-Vittoria as Avondetto and Pedersen shine in Melgaço

It would have been hard to imagine a better start to the 2026 season for the Wilier-Vittoria MTB Factory Team than the one delivered in Vila de Melgaço, Portugal. In their first official outing of the year, at a Continental Series event, the Italian squad celebrated an outstanding double success in the men’s race, with Simone Avondetto leading home teammate Juri Zanotti, and a convincing solo victory in the women’s race thanks to Sofie Heby Pedersen.

In the men’s competition, the Piedmont-based rider – reigning XCO World silver medallist – showed that the winter training blocks are already paying off. The same can be said for Zanotti, Italian XCC champion, who finished 16 seconds behind his teammate while opening up a clear gap on the rest of the field.

“It’s really great to start the season like this,” said Avondetto. “The course was beautiful, I really enjoyed it and my legs felt good. I had a mechanical issue halfway through the race, but I stayed calm, managed to get back to the front group and then attacked. Hopefully this is just the first step of a great season.”

“For the team, the weekend couldn’t have gone any better,” Zanotti admitted. “It was important to get off on the right foot and immediately have some positive feelings to build on for the next races. It was a great trip; now we have another race weekend ahead, and after that I’ll be able to start focusing on the Cape Epic.”

There was also reason to celebrate for Sofie Heby Pedersen, who claimed a commanding win in the women’s race. “This is exactly how I wanted to start my season,” said Pedersen. “Already on the first lap I managed to open a small gap, and from there I just kept pushing, handling all the most technical sections in a clean way. Winter went well and this race gave me some very positive confirmation. Now it’s important to keep going: another block of training and racing awaits as I prepare for the World Cup.”

The only setback of the day was the withdrawal of Luca Braidot, sidelined by knee issues. His condition will be evaluated in the coming days.