CHIUSDINO – City manager Dino Salvoldi's face combines satisfaction and a hint of regret. Today his boys tried to turn the table around and almost took home the full haul. All for Andrea Bessega, who starts ninth this morning from Siena and finishes this Eroica Juniores in fourth place, eight seconds behind the winner. Only Hector Alvarez, his teammate at the Lidl Trek Future Racing next year, it holds the pace of Bessega and the blues. The Spaniard wins the general classification, crowning four days of excellent racing.
"The feeling of this victory," Alvarez says with a huge smile, "is wonderful. On the second stage, we lost Pericas, and the responsibility for the classification fell entirely on me. I achieved two second places in the stage and the desire to win the race was great, so we followed it.It was great to duel with Bessega, next year we'll be on the same team and we'll have the opportunity to work together to win."
All-in blue
When we asked this morning Salvoldi what the course of the race would be, he had replied that he expected a high pace right from the start.
«We ran as protagonists – says the coach with the race still in his eyes – but we lacked that bit of luck that is sometimes neededLady Luck hasn't smiled on us for a while now, but she'll do so again, we just have to try. If we want to look at the glass half full, or rather three-quarters full, we can say that our children's awareness is growing. The habit of being a team continues to increase, there are some details to iron out but it's part of growing up. From this point of view I feel like saying that radios are important., have a fundamental role in training".
Always believe in it
Salvoldi spoke to his teammates immediately after the stage. The medieval stones of Chiusdino surround the blue bus, lulling their feelings of revenge.
«Let's believe in it – he continues – because talent or phenomenon sometimes happens by chance. But the blue movement is there. Right off the bat, and in the right tone, I felt compelled to immediately congratulate the guys. First, because that's what I felt like saying. Then, we take a moment to analyze what we should have done, seeking their feedback. That is, to understand whether they were capable of doing it. Among the details that were missing I would say that there is definitely the breaking of the gearboxes more once the breakaway has startedOr when the group grows, it's time to call the flagship and communicate. All things that need to be learned in this categoryI'm happy in the end, we performed like a great team."
The voices of Donati and Bessega
The three sectors of dirt road shortly after the start gave free rein to the imagination. So the Salvoldi boys tried, and one of the great protagonists of the day was Andrea Donati.
«At the start of the race – says Donati – we knew that the AG2R team would have to ride hard. So, in agreement between us we decided to bring them forwardI did almost 60 kilometers of escape in total, with the idea of giving support to Bessega. He had to return on the first pass at Chiusdino and so it was».
"The tactic? Go with Donati," says Bessega, his legs still throbbing after the sprint for second place, "and push as a unit until the end. Donati was one of those least controlled and had greater freedom of actionI hit a hole in the last kilometer, but I managed to catch up with Alvarez and Kristoff. In the end the Norwegian went for the victory and Alvarez and I for the second place.We tried and we are happy with what we have done in recent days."
