There is a carrot and a stick from coach De Candido for the Italian juniors in the road race of the Europeans dominated by the French who won the gold and bronze medals respectively with Romain Gregoire and Lenny Martinez, outmaneuvering Norway's Per Strand Hagenes (silver). Ten seconds behind the three escapees—who escaped at the top of the Povo climb, with 9 kilometers to go—the group closed with Belgian Vlad Van Mechelen ahead of Italy's Manuel Oioli.
The podium is of the highest quality. Gregoire, with his eighth prestigious victory of the season including two international races in Italy and the French time trial and road championshipsHagenes with seven wins in the last three months. And Martinez won the Lunigiana race with flying colors. And after Samuele Bonetto's fifth place in the time trial (a good performance), another one comes that leaves a bitter taste in the mouth.
In the bus area, there is discussion about the Italian race. There are different opinions, the only thing that everyone agrees on is that there is regret for the final result.Let's try to analyze the situation by putting it under pressure the city Rino De Candido e Assali Stefen Omap sporting director Tommaso Pomini, who exchange opinions during our interview.
De Candido, we're closing out the European Championships with two very different fifth-place finishes: we did well in the time trial, but how did things go in today's road race?
I expected more. I talked about it before with our other coaches, this year we have raced very little with the national team and Our riders are still immature. They're told things and they don't do them, and that's a shame..
Let's take an example from today's race.
To name one, Alessandro Pinarello should have been on the wheel of Gregoire, the winnerBut these guys always have an excuse ready. This is the evil, the drama caused by certain environmentsThey need to start thinking differently because they have a chance of winning these races.
Our boys were coming off a Giro della Lunigiana which they ran well, where they won three out of five stages.
Yes but always running on savings, just to make a little placementThey didn't run to win.
Here's the moment of Gregoire's attack, with Martinez in his wake. According to De Candido, the Italians made a mistake in not following them. The race takes place in the centre of Trento, on a cobblestone surface.
Here's the moment of Gregoire's attack, with Martinez in his wake. According to De Candido, the Italians made a mistake in not following them. The race takes place in the centre of Trento, on a cobblestone surface.
So it's a mental thing? How can you change it?
Of course it is. You change it by going abroad to gain experience, maybe even going to run for foreign teams.
The French had known for a long time which players they'd bring here, while Italy announced their squad just days before the start. You kept everyone on tenterhooks. How much of an impact did this have on a psychological level? Could it have been a double-edged sword?
No, I knew I had to choose the best and after the Giro di Lunigiana I decidedBut as I was saying before, this year we only did one World Cup race, the Peace Race (from 26 to 29 August, ed.), and usually we did six races abroad. That means a lot, because you take the kids around Europe, they realize who their opponents are, they acquire a different mentality of running in certain situations. In the races here in Italy, however, they justify them, they tell them that they are good anyway even if maybe they could have done much better.
What is your relationship with the boys' teams like?
This year has been good, but they always run among themselves and have no comparison with those strong opponents so that you can think about daring more.
The trend seems to be attracting many juniors and drawing them to the Continental youth teams of World Tour teams. What will this potential leap look like?
I have to say that in these two days I had to change my mind about many things. The mentality in the junior world needs to change.They can't expect to win two races and already be champions, especially since the level is very high and if they get through immediately they'll find the strongest. Now they want to move to the continentals where you have to go fast straight away, but they don't understand that they are not yet prepared.
Should training programs be changed?
Many of our teams do equal training for all their kidsInstead, there are those who need more intense training and those who need less or those who can destroy themselves with too much training. Specific training sessions are needed for each rider.I understand it's not easy, and perhaps that's a good thing, because as they grow older, they'll have more room for improvement. But we need to figure out how to solve this problem.
Rino, aren't you just talking like that, in the heat of the moment, out of disappointment?
No, I'm not saying everything is rottenI'm just saying that we had a very specific race tactic. The first three went away 200 meters from the last summit and one or more of our guys should have been there too. Instead justifications arrive because they are not careful about what they are told to do and what they do.
And what recommendations have you made in view of the World Cup?
In Belgium it will be a completely different path and some men will certainly change. I hope they gain more self-confidence by then., run with more competitive malice, than come out of that provincial mentality that they always haveI hope they have a different mentality (he says it enunciating each syllable, ed.).
It's Pomini's turn
As mentioned at the beginning, Tommaso Pomini is the sporting director of Assali Stefen Omap, which had Edoardo Zamperini in the race, who arrived at the European Championships on the strength of his victory at the Linari Cup.
What did Edoardo tell you about the race?
He was attached to the three who fled and then arrived, but before the GPM he told me he was at full speed, or rather, beyond. He lost those ten meters that made the difference.
De Candido told us there was a very specific tactic, while immediately after arriving, Oioli apologized to his teammates since he was supposed to be the designated captain. What were Zamperini's duties?
I heard from him last night after he had the meeting with the manager and the program wasn't yet so defined. The idea was to run in front, on the attack and see how the race went.They hadn't set out with the idea of racing for Oioli.
We're asking you the same question we asked De Candido. The French already knew what lineup they'd be fielding, but we didn't yet. How much of an impact did this have?
Given that the French are the strongest, I think our calls came too lateWe as a club officially learned about Zamperini after the Corsa della Pace, while the others were notified after the Lunigiana. In my opinion, teams should be created a little earlier, a bit like what happens among the pros, so you can prepare them for that event and get there in good condition.Junior cycling has now raised the bar.
De Candido complains about the fact that no competitions were held abroad.
It is true, International racing gives you a lot of experience. However, it was a similar story for the others too, perhaps not for the French and Belgians who came running to us. Of course, showing up at the European Championship with a stage race is too littleBut I see it differently, if I may.
Please explain.
In my opinion, the cards on the table have been seen. We were all six in the leading group, perhaps we were the only complete national team.We didn't have anyone who could make the difference, but maybe we should have anticipated the climb earlier since the strongest climbers were the first three and a few Belgians. We could try to surprise them and if, even though we tried hard, we didn't manage anything, never mind.The race, however, went differently. And if Zamperini dropped out, he didn't do it because he wanted to but because the others were going faster.There is this regret but I will add something else.
Go ahead
Let's say there could have been another input given the situation that arose at the last GPM. If we are six Italians we need to organize ourselves and go and close immediately on the three in the breakawayI don't know the exact directions and the tortuous circuit doesn't favor reunion, but in my opinion it was up to us to sacrifice ourselves and use the final 9 kilometers to close the gap because the gap was only a few seconds. However, Zamperini confirmed to me that they did not organize themselves after the summit. and at that point it becomes difficult to catch three riders like them.
De Candido talks about the boys' apologies.
But I don't know, it depends on each of them. They now have the makings of riders and know that they have responsibilities in the raceIn my opinion, we need to recognize when one is stronger. It must be said that this "disorganization" in wanting to close is also due to the fact that the boys found themselves together too lateThe national team should be a bit more like a team, at least in these matches.
