Third tricolor who speaks Piedmontese, after Longo Borghini and Barale, but this is, if possible, the least expected. Matteo Sobrero, brother-in-law of Filippo Ganna, gives an unexpected push to Allied Products e Cattaneo, even pushing Pippo off the podiumThe giant world champion wasn't too happy in the end, and that's understandable, given that the Tokyo time trial will be tougher than the one in Faenza. As a mitigating factor, there's the fact that In the past few days Ganna has been working hard on the track, including some days on the Stelvio. And like in Romandie paid for the hard sessions on the track, here may have paid the last few days' chargesIt was perhaps impossible to expect him to win today, but in Tokyo you can bet that Pippo will be there.
«I suffered the heat – he says – like every Italian. Today was bad. I couldn't push.I knew I was doing a pretty targeted preparation on the track, I have to process the work. It takes time. At the beginning I was able to maintain the speed, I had a good split time, but I couldn't push on the climbsIf weight is the limit, that's how the Olympics are. So we have to prepare, otherwise we're behind..."
Goofy is not unbeatable
For a Ganna who walks away disconsolate, while His parents take a selfie with Sobrero and plan to send it to him to make him smile. (opening photo), the winner continues to run his hands over his shirt tricolor of the time trial that he won already as an under 23, when he wore the Dimension Data for Qhubeka jersey.
«I was one of those who thought that Pippo was unbeatable – he says – I also called him yesterday to tell him that I would run to get second place. Instead I probably arrived with a superior condition, the heat helped me and he has other goals that could have influenced himIt was a tough time trial, physically and mentally. I had to manage it. I knew the first few kilometers would require pushing, but I would reach the climbs with nothing left to give. In short, it made no sense to start too strong."
Race tactics
But you can't invent a time trial. And if you start studying a route and realize that the start can screw you over, while on the climbs you can build up an advantage, then you also have to understand that in the fast final, the big and strong ones like Ganna and Affini can fall on you and take your race. In the teams there are technicians who study these aspects exactly: the one from Astana, who has studied in detail the tactics and the wattages to be kept, his name is Ivan Velasco.
“I knew that in the final part I would have to defend myself,” he smiles, “so as not to lose the advantage of the climb. And that's why we mounted the 58×11I gave it my all and in the last 2 kilometers I really scraped the bottom of the barrelBut I arrived with a great condition. The fourth place in the last time trial of the Giro gave me a lot of confidence and I tried not to think about the flagships that closed me in on the barriers. So on the last climb I tried to give it my allI knew I was playing for the tricolor jersey."
Little steps
His is a story of small steps. Under 23 for four seasons, first at Viris, then at Colpck and finally two seasons in continental under the guidance of Francesco Chicchi, in that fantastic incubator of talents that was Sobrero's Dimension Data, precisely, Battistella, Konychev e Severed.
«I'm gathering the first results – comments Sobrero – I'm in my second year as a professional and I've never been in a hurryI played four years as an under 23, I don't think this result could have come before, but certainly The tricolor jersey is what every Italian who starts running dreams ofI'm feeling the same emotions as that day in 2019, but among the elite the joy is even greater. Now, however, it's a bit more distant. I've never been so thin, I've been on edge for a while nowI think it's time to go to the seaside."
Piedmontese triumph
Zanini and Cucinotta take him in with their eyes, Umberto Inselvini, who has seen more than a few riders, helps him take off his shoes and shoe covers and hands him his tennis shoes, which he will wear until the anti-doping test, then this first Italian tricolor day in Romagna will be over. With three Piedmontese tricolors. That of Elisa Longo Borghini. That of Francesca Barale. And the last one, the most anticipated, for which everyone was ready to bet on Ganna, who ended up on the promising shoulders of Matteo SobreroLet the Savoy celebrations begin…
