{"id":68155,"date":"2026-05-12T08:00:50","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T07:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/isbsport.com\/arias-zarantonello-top-10-capoliveri\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T14:54:38","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T13:54:38","slug":"arias-zarantonello-top-10-capoliveri","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/isbsport.com\/en\/arias-zarantonello-top-10-capoliveri\/","title":{"rendered":"ARIAS AND ZARANTONELLO EDG CLOSE TO TOP 10 IN CAPOLIVERI"},"content":{"rendered":"

Following a successful gravel debut, the team returns to MTB Marathon with a solid performance on Elba Island, securing crucial points for the World Cup standings. Diego Arias claimed 11th, while Maria Zarantonello fought to 13th despite a crash. Punctures and fatigue hampered Eskil Evensen-Lie\u2019s race.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Capoliveri (ITA) – May 10, 2026<\/span><\/b>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Metallurgica Veneta Professional Team<\/b>\u00a0faced the second round of the\u00a0HERO UCI MTB Marathon World Cup<\/b>\u00a0this Saturday, tackling the brutal climbs of Elba Island. The selective 73 km course, featuring a grueling 2,600 meters of vertical gain, pushed the riders to their limits. The Tuscan-based squad rose to the challenge, delivering high-caliber performances and securing valuable points for the general classification.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Arias: a Masterclass in pacing<\/b>
\nThe standout result came from\u00a0Diego Alfonso Arias Cuervo<\/b>, who crossed the line in\u00a011th place overall<\/b>, narrowly missing the Top 10. The Colombian showed a significant step up from his 30th-place finish in Calpe, the result of a tactically astute and consistent ride.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00abEl ritmo fue a toda m\u00e1quina desde el principio\u00bb, coment\u00f3 Arias, \u00absufr\u00ed un poco en los primeros compases, pero logr\u00e9 mantenerme con el grupo de cabeza. A partir de ah\u00ed, me centr\u00e9 en mantener un ritmo constante para ir remontando. En el tramo final, cuatro de nosotros luch\u00e1bamos por el d\u00e9cimo puesto. Por desgracia, se abri\u00f3 un peque\u00f1o hueco en un descenso t\u00e9cnico, y esos pocos segundos bastaron para decidir el resultado final. Recuperamos el contacto en la \u00faltima subida, pero no fue suficiente para entrar en el top 10. De todos modos, terminar und\u00e9cimo con una potencia tan constante es una gran se\u00f1al\u00bb.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Zarantonello<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\n<\/i>Zarantonello: grit and resilience<\/b>
\nMaria Zarantonello<\/b>\u00a0delivered an impressive performance to take\u00a013th<\/b>\u00a0in the Elite Women\u2019s field<\/b>. Despite a difficult start, she displayed immense character to claw back positions throughout the race.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“My legs felt heavy in the first hour; I just couldn’t find my rhythm,”<\/i>\u00a0– Zarantonello explained –\u00a0“Everything clicked on the Mimose climb, and I started picking riders off. However, starting from the back always makes for a hard chase. Towards the end, fatigue set in\u2014I had a minor crash and ended up needing four stitches in my knee. Despite that, I\u2019m happy with the progression; once I found my legs, I felt strong.”<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This result marks a significant improvement for Maria, moving up from her 20th place in Capoliveri last year and her 16th place at the season opener in Calpe.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tough day for Evensen-Lie<\/b>
\nExpectations were high for\u00a0Eskil Evensen-Lie<\/b>. Coming off a stellar performance at La Traka and a Top 10 in the previous World Cup round, the Norwegian\u00a0finished 24th<\/b>. Although he previously claimed his career-best World Cup result on this very track in 2025, Saturday proved more difficult.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“I didn’t have the best sensations from the gun,”<\/i>\u00a0– Evensen-Lie admitted –\u00a0“I think I was still carrying some residual fatigue from La Traka. I was in the top 12-13 for the first half, but the power just wasn’t there. To make matters worse, I hit a front puncture around kilometer 40, which cost me more time. At that point, I shifted into ‘safe mode’ to ensure I finished and collected points for the overall World Cup standings.”<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Evense-Lie<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Rising form<\/b>
\nRounding out the team’s performance,\u00a0Andrea Candeago<\/b>\u00a0finished 39th overall<\/b>, a massive leap forward from his 67th place in Calpe, confirming his upward trajectory this season.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Team Manager\u2019s perspective<\/b>
\n“Overall, it was a day of mixed emotions”<\/i>\u00a0– the Team Manager concluded –\u00a0“We were so close to the Top 10 with both Diego and Maria, which leaves a bit of a bittersweet taste. We expected slightly more from Eskil, but the season is long. The most important thing is that all four riders scored points, which is vital for our standing in the HERO UCI World Cup Marathon.”<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Following a successful gravel debut, the team returns to MTB Marathon with a solid performance on Elba Island, securing crucial points for the World Cup standings. Diego Arias claimed 11th, while Maria Zarantonello fought to 13th despite a crash. Punctures and fatigue hampered Eskil Evensen-Lie\u2019s…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":68138,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[483],"tags":[3897,2979,3905],"class_list":["post-68155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cycling-en","tag-metallurgica-veneta-mtb-pro-team-en","tag-metallurgica-veneta-mtb-professional-team-en","tag-mtb-del-metallurgica-veneta-pro-team-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/isbsport.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/isbsport.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/isbsport.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/isbsport.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/isbsport.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68155"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/isbsport.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68155\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68158,"href":"https:\/\/isbsport.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68155\/revisions\/68158"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/isbsport.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/isbsport.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/isbsport.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/isbsport.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}