Matteo Fabbro will not be at the start of the Tour of ItalyAfter eleven days without a bike and with the necessary antibiotic therapy, la Bora Hansgrohe he made the decision to protect him and rewrote his programIn place of the Italian race, there will be the Vuelta and a summer of substance before that.
For him too the Tirreno-Adriatico was fatalCarpegna's day was perhaps the final blow, but as Matteo explains first, the whole week was quite tough.
«I had had Covid before – he says – but the last problem was linked to bronchitis caught in Tirreno. I was for four days in bed with a fever of 39 that wouldn't go downI took antibiotics and today I got back on my bike for the first time. I can't say why so many of us were sick. I'm sure there was a stomach virus going around, but as for the cold, you can say what you want, but We ran every day with temperatures below 8 degrees. Ascents and descents, gray areas. When this happens, you're likely to get sick."
52-kilo climber
67 meters tall and 52 kilos, Matteo renewed his contract with the German team last year, which made him one of the strongest men supporting his team of climbers, while allowing him to seek his own space when necessary. And even if 2021 was a bit dull, the 7th place in Prati di Tivo at the Tirreno and the 4th in Naturno at the Tour of the Alps, they say that Friulian has substance and is growing.
Unable to recover?
Impossible no, we need to see what the objectives areAfter a week with no improvement, during which I was also a little worried, the fever went down. I'd just missed a few days at the Mallorca training camp, when I was in the same room as Aleotti, who tested positive. Then I missed more days at the Saudi Tour. If I went straight ahead, I would arrive at the Giro without the necessary foundation.So the team, to avoid burning me, decided to make me skip it. Nobody is happy about this. And by the way, it's so difficult to find names to go running with that I wouldn't be surprised if they called me back in the endBut it would be to plug a hole, so under normal circumstances, it shouldn't happen.
What kind of Giro would you have run?
Ero very focused on the goalIn January we had a meeting to plan everything and so that I could return to being the protagonist. I had been to see some stages. I would have run in support of our three leaders: Hindley, Keldermann and BuchmannI would have had my cards, in a team that comes to the Giro to aim for the podium.
And so now the road opens for the Vuelta…
Preceded by two blocks of high altitude and races like Getxo and Burgos, or the PoloniaThat said, I still don't know where I'll start again. I don't know what to expect after this break, it was like another little winter break. I don't have a weight problem, but It will take time to get back to a good levelBut the team is close to me, it boosts my morale and so I have the motivation to train well, taking care of the details.
They've shown more than once that they care about you...
I sincerely hope so, and I'm happy to hear it. I renewed my contract last year, and that was a good thing. If this hitch had happened to me and I was on deadline, it would have thrown all my plans into disarray.. Instead I'm calm.
Did you ask why they didn't choose to take you to the Tour?
It's not a heat problem, and I have to say I'd like the Tour. Right now, there are two stumbling blocks. The start on the cobblestones and the strong wind of the first stages, where my size might not be the most suitableFor these reasons we haven't played the French card yet, but if I were ready, we could re-evaluate it. Certainly the Tour would not fall at a bad time, we'll see with the team in due time.
Have you started cycling again in Friuli?
No, in San Marino. I moved here and yesterday I went to greet my teammates at the start of the Coppi e BartaliThe weather's nice. The first ride was just enough to get back into the swing of things, a couple of hours. And now we're back in earnest.
