Matteo Malucelli returns to racing in style at Sicilia: "I had still prepared well for the deadline"

After a strong start to the season where he won a stage at the Tour of Antalya and was a part of Rusvelo's strong UAE Tour performance, active in the sprints, Matteo Malucelli has returned to the top step as he's won the opening stage of the Giro di Sicilia.

"It is true that I have been out of the race for a long time, but winning with this jersey of the squadra azzura [Italian national team], makes this day really perfect, I hope there there will be others," he said in a post-race interview. After his team was stripped of it's UCI license due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, sanctions in the world of cycling meant the Italian was directly affected and without a racing schedule. For many, it has been until now an undefined no-racing period with no end in sight, but for some Italian members of the team, they have found opportunities to race in the vast Italian calendar.

Malucelli's teammates, all but Andrea Piccolo have been racing under the nation's colour in the last few weeks. Malucelli is in fact joined in Sicily by Alessandro Fedeli, Nicola Conci, Cristian Scaroni and Giovanni Carboni who were until some weeks ago his regular teammates in the Russian team.

He hadn't raced since February's UAE Tour, the final race where the team was present. His return to competition was today, and he has put on a brilliant performance to beat Matteo Moschetti confidently in the opening stage of the race: "It was quite a long day, I still had some questions about my physical condition, but I had still prepared well for the deadline."