«I say it, the Valcar it's a fairy tale. It's our fairy tale. There are girls who have been with me since they were 12. In our first season as a pro, we went to races fearing we'd lose on the climbs and hoping to finish the races. Now we leave for the Vuelta saying we'll win that stage a month beforehand."
Davide Arzeni he is the sporting director of the Valcar – Travel & Service and when he talks about his job, his girls and his team his voice transmits optimism and pride.
This young, all-Italian professional team has been the revelation of recent years, but especially this season. This is where they race. Elisa Balsamo, Marta Cavalli, Chiara Consonni, Vittoria Guazzini, Elena Pirrone... The Olympic quartet is almost monochromatic, their color, fuchsia.
Significant growth, Davide, and yet Valcar – Travel & Service is still not included in the UCI list of 2021 teams: why?
Because we are defining the squad. Since next year is an Olympic year and we have 3-4 athletes involved in the track project, we risk that 12 athletes will not be enough, So two more are coming soon. Don't ask me who they are, because I won't tell you! So there will be 16 in total. And all of them are important.
But is Valcar still going? Did the sponsor assure you?
Yes, yes let's move on and how. Also Travel & Service, which is a partner of Ryanair, Despite the tourism crisis, he secured our budget. We're happy because our major sponsors didn't let us down. And since June we have spent between 10 and 15 thousand euros per month on swabs for athletes and staff, just to make you understand how expensive it was to continue.
You don't tell us who's coming, but can you tell us something about Marta Cavalli's departure? Did you part on good terms?
Marta had been at Valcar for 11 years. She was a daughter, but in life there can be paths that divide. She wanted to try an experience abroad (Fdj – Nouvelle Aquitaine, (ed.) He had this opportunity and he took it. What can I say? If we don't win, we're happy if she does! It will also start Campbell. Teniel had signed the renewal, but she also received a call from WT and why keep her reluctantly? We reached an agreement and she will move to Mitchelton.
Is Elisa Balsamo the lighthouse?
Talking about Elisa is sometimes difficult, you risk ending up in self-celebration. I believe that there are very few athletes like her around, at least from what I've seen. I wouldn't trade her for Van Vleuten…Okay let's do it Niewiadoma! Elisa is only 22 years old and is already competitive at world level. She's the champion of the future: she's fast, she holds her own on climbs, she's fast on pace. He may win a Flanders as well as the group sprint at Return.
What has it improved and what needs improvement?
She has matured as a girl and is aware of her abilities. We said he would win the Vuelta a month before. On the track, beating Trott, the strongest in the world, says it all. However, she needs to improve overall on the road, but this will happen in 2022 after the Olympics, when he will dedicate less time to the track. Not that he should abandon it, also because the way they do it it is also good for the road, but if we are in Belgium he must not leave midweek for the European Championships. I don't think he will win a Line of Business, but not because it doesn't climb well, but because climbs lasting 30-40 minutes bother it. However, it's also true that we've never worked on it, precisely because of the track.
Then there's Chiara Consonni, another revelation and the one we're told is the star of the group...
For me he is stronger than his brother! At least as a pure sprinter. She is “bad”, she has no fear of racing or opponents. Chiara, who has become her "last man standing," is almost always there in Elisa's victories. But when she has carte blanche, she's never disappointed. She's already won in the WorldTour, beating the world's best, and she's 20 years old... Her future is bright.
Vittoria Guazzini…
Here's another one of those destined for the top. She's not even 20 yet. On the track, we saw how she performed in the Madison and the quartet. Vittoria arrived at Valcar two years ago, but it's as if she's always been there. It has a crazy engine. When it finds consistency it is among the strongest especially in time trials and Northern classics like the Roubaix.
You have a great band, then. But does this aspect emerge when you travel the world?
Is it noticeable?! When we're abroad, more than once, our "cheerfulness" has been pointed out to us. Some foreign teams don't like this approach too much, but I believe it's our secret weapon. Silvia Persian who has been with us since she was a child is what I call our fairy tale. And the credit goes to Valentino Villa (owner Valcar, ed.) who believes in it and invests.
And do they help each other while running? Do they seek each other out?
Yes, they talk to each other. They help each other. Sometimes they even anticipate me in the flagship and what I'm about to tell them. In some cases I call them back precisely because they are too early.
You've been following them for years: have they grown in character too?
We stayed in Livigno for three weeks in June. With the cold, things would have been more complicated (and perhaps Arzeni himself would have been more careful, ed.). The tear was easier, now they are tougher. Elisa herself had fallen in Ghent, suffering a cut due to a disc brake that required 18 stitches on her leg. Some immediately spoke of the season being over: after a week she was in the running for De Panne.
The spirit is there, the sponsors seem solid and the team is strong: are you thinking about making the jump to the WorldTour?
Well, we're thinking about it, we're thinking about it... But we'll have to see how the WorldTour itself will evolve, especially after this period. According to the UCI's roadmaps for the development of women's cycling, there should have been 12 WT teams this year. Instead, there are only 9, and some are not in great shape. We have track athletes who are part of military sports groups. For now, they still have them race in the World Tour, but what about the future? Let's keep going like this... We are so strong that the invitations keep coming!
