What a show in Val di Sole with the World Championship Downhill and Deromedis and Zorzi in the commentary booth. The Olympic champion: “My dream was...”

Federica Brignone is also a true Downhill enthusiast, so much so that she watched the World Cup round (at the beginning of July) from trackside in La Thuile, and the same goes for Camille Rast.

The enthusiasm conveyed during almost two hours of commentary by Simone Deromedis and Edoardo Zorzi was infectious, because two of the Italian national skicross team’s aces, who shared the Bergamo athlete’s first podium in Val Thorens at the beginning of the season (second behind the athlete from Trentino, who went on to become Olympic champion in Livigno two months later), were alongside Silvano Ploner and Tony Longo in the Rai Sport commentary booth today.

Where? Obviously in Val di Sole, for the most adrenaline-fuelled day of the MTB world championships, which will conclude on Sunday with the Olympic cross-country events, with the “Black Snake” hosting two elite races (the juniors raced in the morning, with an Italian podium thanks to Filippo Gilardino), both spectacularly won by two champions: Austria’s Valentina Hoell, claiming her fifth consecutive world title, and Canada’s Jackson Goldstone, who made it two in a row after Lenzerheide 2025.

For “Dero”, it was not even a journey away, as he was born and raised in Val di Non, just a few dozen kilometres from the Daolasa di Commezzadura arena; for “Edo”, from Clusone in the Bergamo area, it was an opportunity to enjoy a special day alongside his teammate and close friend.

And to think that last night, at the event organised for the 4X Pro Tour, none other than Albertone Tomba was also at the Trentino (and national) mountain bike temple!

Deromedis admitted, without mincing his words and with a passion that came across spectacularly clearly, that “my dream was actually to become a Downhill athlete; it is a discipline I have always adored”. For Zorzi, “it is pure adrenaline—something wonderful, watching champions do things like that”.

Next step? “We’ll enjoy the last four days of summer at home, then a month of training in Chile awaits us”.

Bartolomeo Pala and Siegmar Klotz’s group, like the Italian men’s national alpine skiing speed team, will in fact spend much of next September preparing in La Parva.