CERVINIA – Marino Amadori he's loading the bags onto the blue flagship. It just finished Tour of the Aosta Valley and it's already time to look forward, at the Avenir and also to the European Championships. So we're not going home, but heading straight to Sestriere.
We take stock of the “Petit Tour” with the coach of the Italian U23 national team and, above all, talk about the French effort. Marino is smiling. All in all, the Italians didn't look out of place in a competition that offered a stellar level.
Marino, the Aosta Valley is over: what responses did you get?
I'd say not bad. A third in the general classification, Ludovico Crescioli, okay. Last year, whoever finished third here went on to win the Tour de l'Avenir! Let's put it on the positive side... Crescioli had a wonderful Valle d'Aosta, he had a great race schedule and arrived at this event well prepared.
And now?
Now we are leaving for Sestriere with him and others. We'll have a training camp with the entire roster of athletes who will run the Avenir. But it will also be a training camp with a view to the European and World Championships.
What is this rose?
It's an expanded roster. This is the list: Pietro Mattio, Ludovico Crescioli, Edoardo Zamperini, Alessandro Pinarello, Samuel Kajamini, Simone Gualdi, Noviero Raccagni, Lorenzo Conforti, Christian Bagatin, Alessandro Borgo, Nicolas Milesi, Lorenzo Masciarelli, and I'm also evaluating Matteo Scalco.
Let's start with those who were in the Aosta Valley. About Crescioli, we mentioned...
Gualdi He had a great race. He's a first-year, a very interesting kid. I like him a lot and I'll definitely have him do the Tour de l'Avenir too. As we see around the world, these super young riders are given space right away, and so are we. Let's give him and others the chance to have these wonderful experiences. Returning to the Aosta Valley, As a national team, we won a stage with Biagini: even if it wasn't perhaps the most difficult stage, we nevertheless demonstrated that we are very competitive on certain routes. We struggle more with the more challenging ones, but we'll work on them this month before the Tour de l'Avenir.
Which team will you bring?
A well-prepared team, first and foremost. We want to achieve the best possible result in France. The Avenir is one of the best races for young riders, offering a high-level competition. We're rolling up our sleeves these days and we'll try to get to work. Because the only way out is through hard work.
Tell us a little about the kids competing for Avenir…
Zamperini I'll bring him because he's a guy who's done well, both here and before. And he knows how to move well on certain challenging courses. Mattio, was not at Valle, but is considered for Avenir. Then we have the good Kajamini who unfortunately had some physical problems here and I hope to recover him. I'll give him the chance to come to higher ground and hopefully he can recover up there.
Among the names on the list was also the important one of Pinarello…
Pinarello is another one that Giro Next Gen he did well and above all he goes strong uphill. He wasn't here, but he'll be doing the Tour d'Alsace next week, then he'll join us in Sestriere and so he'll be at Avenir. While Raccagni and Borgo have been called up more with a European perspective in mind. In this sense, I'm also thinking of Romele and Conforti. This is sort of the extended list of riders who have performed well recently or during the season.
And then there could have been Giulio Pellizzari. How did it go with him?
I understand your choice and that of your staff. We talked about it, he was enthusiastic especially after the second place at Avenir last year, but then he decided this way. We found a great athlete to prevent us from winning it, Del ToroAnd he proved that he was incredibly strong after just a few months in the professional world. He wasn't beaten by just anyone. Giulio had a great Giro d'Italia And I'm happy about that because I think that's his world. That's where he needs to be and make it big. As I said, we talked about it calmly and decided this way. I wish him the best and I'm convinced he'll do great things. As for the rest PiganzoliPiga is another boy who has already made two Avenir, bringing home a fifth and a third place. He too could have been interesting, but the same argument made for Pellizzari applies to Davide.
Marino, you mentioned teamwork, but how will you organize it? Everyone has their own coach these days, how will you coordinate them all?
I respect the trainers, let's be clear. However, the guys need to come to the training camp with a well-defined program. Then we'll discuss it together; we're a team, we're a group, and we'll try to get the work done and coordinate as best we can. We'll be in Sestriere for three weeks. We have two masseurs, I have the bike... up there, we'll try to take care of the details, the weight, everything else that's needed. I plan on having him do the specific work with the bike. The important thing is that there is clarity in the plans from the very beginning.
Clear..
Plus, it's a luxury, because out of six stages of the Avenir we will see four, Because they're all in the same area. This means we can see not only the climbs, but also the descents, the most dangerous turns, and understand which way the wind blows. We'll cover the routes meter by meter, and I think that will be a great advantage. In previous years, we'd also inspect the stages, but there were only two at most.
