The Uc Trevigiani is located in France, precisely on the roads of the Ronde of l'Isard, stage race for under-23s (opening photo by Florian Frison/DirectVelo). The first stage took place yesterday, finishing in Trie-sur-Baise, with victory for the Swede Lovidius, second place for the Italian Sierra (Tudor U23) and fourth place for Perani of the Veneto team. Today we arrive in Bagneres de Luchon, a city that has hosted the Tour de FranceA long journey, which took the Trevigiani boys to the Haute-Garonne department, on the border with Spain. Many kilometers to find the first stage race of the season: not a good sign if an Italian team has to cross an entire country to have its guys race in a high-level event.
«This – says Filippo Rocchetti, sport director of the team – represents the first step towards Giro Next Gen. We arrived on Monday, April 29: two masseurs, a mechanic, the six riders and myself. The boys cycled on these roads to take measurements and we carried out all the checks and controls before starting the race."
A long trip
The Haute-Garonne is located within the Pyrenees National Park, where cycling and climbing are a given. In some ways, the organizers' idea is the same as the one they had for the Giro della Valle d'Aosta.A short but demanding stage race, always with the chain tight and your face looking to the sky.
«It was a really long journey – continues Rocchetti – ten and a half hours by car, luckily we didn't find any traffic. Long, but flowing (laughs, ed.). Let's start from here to get to the best possible way Giro Next GenThe route will be challenging and the kids have to prepare, for many of them the Ronde de l'Isard is the first U23 stage raceTrevigiani had already been here a few times, but for me, this represents my debut as sports director in France."
How are you organized?
We brought a workshop van, a car and a van to transport the boys. Transfers are convenient, at most there will be 45 kilometers to cover between the arrival of one stage and the start of the next. We equipped ourselves with the bare minimum, with six guys one car is still fine. Then there are the others at home who will be busy with national activities.
You talked about preparation for the Giro Next Gen, so these six are the same ones we will see in action at the Corsa Rosa for U23?
Basically, these will be the riders who will be able to line up at the Giro. But the names will come out from here. The Ronde de l'Isard is a really tough race, with five stages that never give you any respite.
Why is it becoming an important stage in preparing for the Giro?
Because it's the first multi-day race of the year, for one thing. Then it's hard and therefore it puts a lot of effort into your legsI hope to leave here with the growing boys. The race features many long climbs, something we struggle to find in U23 races in Italy.
You said that many of the guys are having their first experience in a stage race.
Yes, it seems strange but it's true. In Italy we have few of them and what's more the Giro Next Gen It's the first. Bringing kids to gain experience is important to help them understand how to work in a group and how to manage certain efforts. If I think about the fact that we went all the way to the border with Spain to give him such an experience...
The parterre is important.
There are two other Italian teams: Technipes and CTF. Then there is the full Visma Development and many development teamsThe level is high, we will aim to defend ourselves and get some results. Our striker is ZamperiniHe's well and fit, as his April performance proved. We'll see what he does from here on out.
