In the last few weeks Philip Zana He is practically a regular guest on the national media. his Giro d'Italia, beyond the stage won, the conquest of the Tour of Slovenia (in the opening photo awarded by a special host, Primoz Roglic) is another piece of his growth, but there is more. Many platforms have endlessly repeated the images of his fall in the Slovenian race, his getting back up and then even go on the run to win the stage and wear the leader's jersey, wearing it to the finish line.
A spectacular and inconsequential fall, like so many in the life of a rider, but this was not a normal fall: it was two days after the much more tragic one that took Gino away. Mader and this gave an extraordinary emphasis to his accident. “Filippo Zana is a miracle: scary fall down a slope, the bike falls” was the headline on an important sports news website, no one knows how much to attract views or, we want to believe seeing the images, really scared by the mechanics of the event.
A few days later, the chat with Filippo cannot help but be inspired by what happened: «It was a fall that was as spectacular as it was insignificant.I took the wrong turn, the same one that had caused a crash for one of my teammates the previous lap. It was coming at the end of a very fast section, and I made a riding error. I got up immediately, realizing I hadn't hurt myself, and I just thought about getting going again."
Yet that slip had a huge impact…
I can understand that. When I saw the scene again in the videos in the evening, I was a little scared too., but I understand that the emphasis was placed above all on what had happened in Switzerland, the tragedy that cost Gino his life. At the time I hadn't thought about it, but I admit that seeing the images brought to mind what happened to the Swiss man and I realized I was lucky, very lucky...
It's true that falls have always happened to every cyclist, but thinking about it, do you think something more could be done in terms of safety?
Here we would open a huge debate. Maybe in that curve where I fell, an employee who would have pointed it out would have been useful.Perhaps in Mader's case, there was no need to place the finish at the end of the descent; it would have been enough to finish the stage at the top of the climb. But you have to look at everything from a different perspective. In the Swiss case, I also understand the organizers, who reach an agreement to arrive in a certain place and have to adapt, especially to travel those specific roads. Speaking of Slovenia, how many workers should you deploy along the route for a 200-kilometer stage? It's difficult to square the circle, although I have an idea.
What?
Given that we are always going faster because the racing materials are constantly evolving, It is also up to the cyclist to do his part, to use attention and caution, without which any organizational precaution will be useless. Ours is a risky sport; let's never forget that and do our best to reduce the risks.
Did you expect this victory, especially after the efforts of the Giro?
We knew we had come out of the Giro well and above all I felt I was in good shape, but then there are also the opponents and participating in the Tour of Slovenia was certainly very qualified. No one competed to come in second, it was a tough fight. In the end I was very happy not only with the result, but with how it came about, for the form I showed against people who were really going very strong.
The feeling is that the Giro has helped you make another leap in quality…
I hope so, but the road is still long and there is still a lot of room to make up compared to the strongest. This type of stage race, packed into 4-5 days, is definitely my ideal format at the moment.
There are many examples of riders who have built their careers in these races, later going on to emerge in the Grand Tours as well. Could this be your case?
I hope so. After the Giro, many are predicting my future as a GC rider, but to truly become one, there's still a long way to go. Phenomena such as pogacar There are few who are capable of winning immediately, precisely because they are phenomenaI think I'm on the right track. Every race helps me grow. These successes give me the push to persist and try again, to keep improving, hoping that one day I too can be there fighting for an important jersey in a major Giro.
What awaits you now?
Of course the Italian championship, then finally the plug is unplugged for a while. We had set the season to be at our best at the Giro and I have to say that in the end we were right, even though I wasn't exactly brilliant at the start. I'll take some rest and then we should start again around mid-August for the second half of the season; we'll see what our goals are.
PS Falls are part of the job, Zana knows it and perhaps she had already had her share of luck. The fact is that this morning, during training... Filippo fell and fractured his right clavicle. No Italian championship and will need to undergo surgery on Friday to repair the fracture, then the recovery phase will be considered.
