For the second year in a row, the talented climbing duo Edoardo Zardini and Franesco Bongiorno finished in the top 5 in the hard Giro dell'Emilia. Their Bardiani team was pleased with the performance that proved that they have two of the biggest Italian climbing talents in their ranks.

The Giro dell'Emilia may have been dominated by veterans Davide Rebellin and Franco Pellizotti who both finished on the podium. Just behind those two riders, however, the future of Italian cycling was in the spotlight as the Bardiani duo of Edoardo Zardini and Francesco Bongiorno finished 4th and 5th respectively.

”I think the victory or at least the podium was within reach," sports director Roberto Reverberi said. "It’s a pity because Edoardo and Manuel repeated last year's strong performance, repeatedly taking the responsiblity in the chase group and setting the tempo on the San Luca climb. Unfortunately, the experience of Rebellin prevailed over our young talents during the last passage. Bongiorno's late attack was good but Rebellin was smart to wait to the right moment to drop him.

"However, for the second edition in a row, Bongiorno and Zardini were in the battle for the victory until the final metres and this gives us the confirmation that we have two really strong climbers who can aim high in these races in the future. From this evening we will start to think about tomorrow's GP Beghelli where we clearly want to win. If we do so, we will win the Coppa Italia overall."