Affini admits that he is not one to sleep much, but that a couple of days of hibernation after the Line of Business they served himNow it's time to pack another suitcase, because riders never stop, but first a return to the race won by Yates everything is there. What we are interested in understanding with the Mantuan of the Visma-Lease a Bike è what winning the pink jersey meant for the team in 2023 he had won the Giro, Tour and Vuelta and the following year she found herself having to deal with injuries, bad luck and placings that were too small for the expectations generated in the wonder year.
"Let's say that 2023 was something probably unrepeatable – says Affini – then 2024, coming off a season like that, was a more complicated year, but not one to be completely thrown away. In the end, if you look, we hadn't disappeared from the arrival orders, but it's clear that there was a differenceThis year we started off quite well, even if we missed out on the classic Monuments in the North. We were present, but the significant result was missing. So coming to the Giro and managing to bring home three stages and the pink jersey, I think it was a great confidence boost."
He's packing his bags for the high altitudes, not yet knowing his return to racing schedule, but with a possible Tour appearance, which would mark his debut and deserved recognition for an athlete who couldn't be stronger and more consistent. Affini says he would like to compete in the Italian time trial championship, because he could run it wearing the European champion's jersey, but nothing else has been made official and we will have to wait until mid-June to have the summer plans.
Were you one of those who encouraged Yates to believe in it? Did you have it in your head from the start, or was it a discovery made day by day?
I raced with the then Mitchelton-Scott team which also included Simon. I already knew him, even if when he arrived to us, it was clear that he had been taken more as a backup for Jonas (Vingegaard, ed.) But at the same time they had given him carte blanche to play his cards in certain appointments. He started with the idea of the Giro already in the winter and when we arrived in Tirana there was the idea of making a good rankingWe wanted to do everything possible to put him in a position to achieve a result. Then, along the way, the confidence that something great could happen grew more and more. So I'd say that We have always seen Simon as a man to make the rankings and we protected it as best we could.
He said he was only alone during the time trials, while the rest of the time you kept him safe…
My job was to keep it as covered as possible and for as long as possible, as long as my body allowed me at certain stages. Instead in the fast endings, it was always (in quotation marks) a mess, in the sense that we were divided. Having Olav Kooij, Van Aert and I were more focused on him, at least in the final stages of the race when the approach to the sprint began, so in the last 5, 6, and 10 kilometers. In those cases, the rest of the team would rally around Simon.
You experienced the North with Van Aert and probably shared his disappointments. What was it like watching him win the Siena stage?
Maybe I've already talked about it with someone else, I don't remember exactly who, but basically It's not that Wout wasn't there in the springHe was always there, except that he found himself in front of other riders who were superior to him at that moment. But if you look closely, its continuity was an important signal. Then it's clear that especially in Belgium the press expects a lot and sometimes exaggerates. But there are others too, not just him. See it win a stage, especially Siena which has always been an important place for him, it was a great momentHe did a great job in every stage, but seeing him win was great for all of us. We were all happy; the whole team celebrated that night.
It is said that after the defeat in 2023, Pogacar was really super determined last year. There is a rivalry between Visma and UAE?
Perhaps it should be asked to the people directly involved, i.e. Jonas and Tadej. But we, as a team, We know which riders you should actually consider 100 percent rivals.It's normal that when you have the same goals, you automatically become the number one rival. Likewise, when you have two corridors like Vingegaard and Pogacar, the rivalry becomes stronger. Obviously there are others too, the Giro for example has shown Del Toro and Ayuso, but having references like them is a mutual boost. Every team tries to improve, perhaps finding that 0,5 percent to go a little faster. And this applies to the riders, but also to the staff. Ultimately, if the level is high, the competition is high, just like in football.
Yet, even knowing you, it seemed that in the Sestriere stage the UAE Emirates underestimated Yates: Martinelli thought it was incredible…
Maybe that's why Simon was good at managing himself in that way with his experienceAs he himself said, he didn't catch a breath of wind and almost no one saw him. Our goal from the start was to carry him through the Giro without him having to struggle too much. It has practically always been there, but it was as if it wasn't there. and so he managed his energies in the best way.
