That of the General Store Essegibi It's a change that goes beyond the classic roster renewal that any cycling team implements every year. The continental team from Veneto has in fact chosen a new path, completely focusing its activity on the under 23s. This is the first real effect of Paul's arrival Brown as sporting director of the team: coming from Gazprom's problematic experience concluded without a position from the UCI, Rosola only joined the team in the summer, took stock of the activity and then gave clear directives.
"It was my choice," explains the Brescia-born manager. "I evaluated the situation and ultimately spoke with the president about the team's direction. We have to work on riders who can become champions later on, we have to give them the tools, but we must not make victories an end, only a means.. Look Lucca: he finally passed at 25, but others like him, Spools For example, they didn't succeed and they deserved it. Why? Because cycling is different from category to category, and for many young people, racing with the elite isn't always a good idea because the tools available to them are different depending on their age."
How was your idea received?
I was enthusiastically given free rein. I plan to have the 13 members of the team do different activities: those in their first two years, who have just graduated from juniors or are still learning, will follow a certain type of schedule, while the others will follow a different, more highly qualified format. It's too easy to forget that those who have just graduated still have to deal with school, reconciling the two is always difficult.If you come home at 13 pm and immediately get on your bike, then come back and have homework, you're facing a significant physical but also, and above all, mental effort. You have to consider this, because you can't expect too much more.
How did you go about choosing the new ones?
I wanted guys who hadn't reached their full potential as juniors. I reviewed many riders, and over the months I received constant feedback. I went to watch the guys race, especially checking how they moved in a group, what tactical skills they had. The results? Yes, those too, but they're not the only thing to monitor, in fact... The guys who have joined the team have a lot of room for improvement and I want to work on that.
What schedule will they have? There's been a lot of discussion these past few weeks about the need for our team to compete in stage races...
The calendar is a difficult subject. I'd like to take the kids abroad to compete often. I've contacted many organizers and am waiting for responses, but finding space is difficult. Clearly, those who organize a competition favor teams from their own country, and that's normal. Therefore, we will necessarily favor the Italian calendar, but not without carefully evaluating the opportunities that arise and, above all, evaluating each match from our own perspective.
Or?
The Italian calendar is designed so that, when there are international races, we have the unfortunate habit of going against the grain compared to other countries. So we invite more foreign teams than Italian ones. Furthermore, the professional teams are paid for everything, so we have to pay for it. And so I'm interested in being present in the stage races, which are too few, and in the road races, which are truly for under-23s.
You know that the Italian calendar is packed with events, with regional races often featuring starting lists of equal, if not superior, quality to the national ones…
For this we will have to evaluate with the scales. Winning local races? I'm interested in the team, but it depends on who: if they're useful for giving younger riders experience, then yes, winning for the sake of winning isn't helpful. I'm interested in the kids growing slowly, through training, with the length of the races, and that they arrive prepared for the next steps. That's why I didn't just look at the riders, but I also wanted to strengthen the staff, taking on people like Vigni who knows even more than me at the category level.
However, important riders such as Stefano Leali and Andrea Cocca are arriving.
Check out this last one: He won only one race, everyone would think he wasn't a winner, but in the races he was always there with the top riders. He's also someone who has never done more than 140 kilometers of training. He's someone you can work on, like Leali too. who has won a little more but can make a lot of progress.
One of the latest additions is your son Kevin…
At first I was against letting him come, I didn't want the usual father-sports director-son-rider relationship to be created. Then speaking with the team, knowing of his will to leave the Tyrol, we decided to make an investment because Kevin (in the opening photo with the team president Diego Beghini, ed.) has acquired over the years the experience of a foreign team and He could be a point of reference for his teammates in the race, especially the younger ones.
What do you expect?
I could say at least 10 victories, but it's more a question of sponsors, of getting the name out there. I say we can get there, but what matters is that the kids can grow up, also to demonstrate to those who came from prestigious teams or were overlooked during the transfer market that they were right...
