Between 2019 and 2020, in the then Biesse-Arvedi which is now Biesse-Carrera, Marco Milesi found himself leading two tall, strong men uphill despite their height: Kevin Colleoni and Filippo ConcaThe second, above all, had a love/hate relationship with the scale because being thin when you're 1,91m tall isn't always easy. When it became clear that the talent was ready to face professionalism, at the end of 2019 the two (who did not yet have an agent) both signed a contract with Gianni Savio's Androni. But the sun didn't have time to set on that signature before the agents arrived and rewrote the passage. Colleoni went to the Team Bike Exchange, now Jayco-AlUla, Lotto Basin.
«It was a two-year contract – Milesi recalls – and I saw Filippo Conca better with Savio, because he could have grown even more. Especially with the physical problems he had, he could have done as Cattaneo, who after Lampre went to Androni and was back to the same guy I was with at Trevigiani. There are moments when if you find a team that lets you race, you're free and there's no pressure. You have to guess it, you have to be lucky in those things too.But many times they trust the prosecutor's tip more, while I raced in Belgium and Lotto was not a suitable environmentEither you get respect right away, otherwise things will get tough."
Today that Filippo became Italian champion at the head of the singular passage to the Swatt Club, returning to the one who launched it can be the way to put the pieces back in order and understand what the trajectory of the fresh and unexpected tricolour could now be. Milesi is working with the team preparing the Tour of the Aosta Valley, which will start on Wednesday. From next year they will be a nursery for Cofidis, while maintaining its name and sponsorships, but there will be plenty of time to talk about this later.
Have you continued to hear from Conca even during these difficult times?
I often heard from him, I even saw him at the races. I'm always in touch with the guys and when I think of him, my idea is that he never found his dimension. I somehow see myself in it, we are the same height and weigh the same. Great riders: cuirassiers in the service of a captain, even if he has never had a captain to work for. I won't deny that his victory surprised me.
Teams look for winners, not defenders…
I've always said it. I also said it to Bramati (the two raced together in the amateurs, ed.), because someone like Conca should have been taken to put him to pull for their leadersIf you have a role, you can stay afloat even up there. However, the way Filippo ran, I always saw him as a bit disoriented.
Some thought he didn't have the necessary determination, Conca responded that he used it all to recover from his injuries.
It's true, as it's true that It's hard to look at the placings and you only think about the victoriesIn 2023, in his first year with the Q36.5, Filippo had a very strong showing in the Italian championship, with a seventh place. Last year he was ninth in the Coppa Agostoni. You can't expect results from someone like him, but in fact he never ran for a captain who could win thanks to his work.
In this cycling world of very light riders, could weight have been a problem? He himself often talks about it.
Maybe that was also a factor. One thing I'm sure of is that Filippo has a lot of power, and the team he's racing for now, as if by chance, has the right name. He must always stay within the weight and then he can use all his strengthI remember at the 2020 Giro d'Italia U23, when he finished fifth overall, he was climbing the Mortirolo by force alone. He was pushing in an absurd way. It was his strong point and his weight probably always gave him a few problems.
Do you think winning the Italian championship gives him the motivation to change pace?
In my opinion, yes. Now he has seen how far he can go, the potential he has.He understood that he can win, as happened in the years he was with me. In 2019 he did well, but not very well. Then when he started to go strong, to be up there, he was convinced of his abilities and did well throughout 2020. In my opinion even now, if there is an opportunity for a team, he will be able to do well, because his potential is still there. And then you know what?
What?
He's hit rock bottom and now he's in trouble. They are different guys, but somehow he reminds me of FinettoMauro also hit rock bottom and risked quitting, but from then on he started to go strong and had an excellent second half of his career in France.
It's a good thing I didn't think about quitting, right?
He had the strength to continue. He had two injuries this year too, but he never stopped believing. It's only right that he gets the chance to try again.
