Today is a special day for Erica. Magnaldi. Called to the most important challenge of his year. It's not a cycling challenge, even if it has a lot to do with cycling. Erica is in Eindhoven, Netherlands, to undergo a delicate operation on her iliac artery. and fix her left leg which has given her a lot of problems all season.
Looking closely, his results take on greater value, the top 10 achieved at Tour of Italy and, only on Sunday, in Tour of Scandinavia because it has carried this problem with it for a long time, with which many champions have fought, Fabio Aru just to name one, but recently also Nicola Conci e Bob Jungels.
«The obstruction was diagnosed in May – says the woman from Cuneo – after an endless series of consultations and tests without being able to get to the bottom of the pain and fatigue that was taking over me while I was pedalingI should have stopped, but it would have meant losing the whole season, so I chose to continue at least for a couple of months to be available for the Giro and the Tour, at least as much as I could."
And if you look closely, you haven't given up, considering your 8th place in Italy and 18th in France...
The results were good, especially considering that I was running in support of Mavi. Garcia, so I had to work around it. But I'm sure that without this problem, the results would have been even better. At the Giro I didn't expect to finish so far ahead, at the Tour I even lost over 6 minutes in the stage with the dirt road. Because I had to give my bike to Mavi. Overall, I'm satisfied, but I still have that little gnawing feeling deep inside me, tied to that same question: what if I hadn't been sick?
How did the problem manifest itself during the race?
The pain only emerges when pedaling beyond certain speeds, because not enough blood passes through and considering that the artery is very deep, it is not even easy to diagnose and find the obstruction. I had to change the way I ran to be able to at least partially overcome the problem.
In what way?
First I changed my position on the bike, raising the saddle and handlebars a little to have a more upright position which gave me more relief, but getting used to it wasn't easy. I also changed my preparation, considering that when I went beyond my threshold, the pain was more acute and therefore I had less resistance.
Has this also changed the way you run, has it influenced your figure as a top climber?
Certainly. Not so much on the long climbs, where I could still manage well by going at my own pace and keeping within the threshold. However, I certainly couldn't respond to the sprints and the Van Vleuten for example, he reserved quite a few for us between Giro and Tour... I had to continue at my pace and that eventually It also taught me something about how to best handle myself in certain situations..
Why the operation in mid-August?
With the team, having established that I could guarantee my contribution for the two main races, we agreed on the best time. I would have ended the season early and for this reason they asked me to make an extra effort for Scandinavia, where among other things the team was set up for me. For this reason, that 10th place finish makes me happy on one hand, but it always leaves me wondering what I could have done if I had been better because I wanted to repay the team's trust even more.
Your contract with the UAE Team Adq does it expire next year?
Yes, and this has given me more peace of mind as I face this journey of hope. I'm undergoing surgery at a specialized clinic, where many athletes, mostly cyclists, have been treated. It's going to take me a couple of months to get back on track., so I can face winter training with peace of mind and full strength. That's why we chose to stop early.
Do your family continue their parallel activity in granfondo?
Of course… My father and my brother, however, are first and foremost passionate about cycling and were there at the main stages of the Giro and Tour, making sure they were there at the finish line. This time I was able to support them a little less in their raids., but I certainly haven't forgotten the world I come from.
What do you ask of the new season then?
Easy: being able to recover as best as possible, get back to full strength and have no problems. I have time to calmly recover and free myself from this obsession that has tormented me for many months.I want to return to those races, but to tackle them as best I can and possibly stay with the top finishers, without having to give them up due to too much pain.
