They called her Celeste, she was born on October 13th. From that day on, Affini and his partner Lisa's life revolved around their firstborn., who chose to arrive Father's holiday periodThe bicycle appears every now and then, aware that the wait is about to end. Starting from December 8th, the riders of the Visma-Lease a Bike they will face their first retreat in Spain and then the time for serious work will come. When we hear it in the early afternoon, Edoardo has just returned from a diaper changing session.
«It's clear that everything is different – Affini smiles – priorities change, days change, but it's certainly beautifulI'm especially happy that I can enjoy it for almost a month. It's still a while before it becomes more… interactive, let's put it that way, but I'm taking my time to spend with it and build a certain bond. And then it makes a difference for my partner too.If she had been born in June – she laughs – after the Giro and before the Tour, maybe I would have slept a few more hours, but it would have been a real mess…».
Three more Italians
Among the new features of the team for next year is that Affini will no longer be the only Italian, but will be joined by Piganzoli, Fiorelli and from Mattio, who actually already spent three seasons in the I have to team up Dutch. He says that the bosses asked him for some references on the new arrivals and that Piganzoli he contacted him to get information about the environment he will findAnd that's exactly why we called it too, because it intrigues us. the point of view of someone who has been racing for the Dutch team since 2021 and maybe he had gotten used to the idea of being the only… Japanese on the island.
«Before me there was only Battaglin – says Affini – next year there will be four of us. Honestly it doesn't make much of an impression on me, except that It will be nice to speak my language every now and then if we are in the same raceAt our level, it might be nice to have a compatriot, but then the decisions are made by the team based on completely different factors. That's Visma, we know it wellWhen I arrived in 2021, it was still on the rise. Then you could say that 2022 and 2023 were the most prolific years. In 2025 we won two out of three Grand Tours and in the third we came second, it doesn't seem so bad to me. But it's true that the biggest sponsors are after the Tour, because it has the biggest media response, like the Champions League. The Giro, the Vuelta and the classics are important, there's little to go around, but the Tour is moreAnd we tried to win the Tour, but Tadej and his team were superior to us."
Obsessive about details
In this super structured group that has the Tour as its guiding star and feeds on the Giro and the Vuelta – won with Yachts e vingegaard – as secondary morsels, they will arrive three Italians, coming from two professional and from the I have to team up, which has the same features, but necessarily a less wide scopeWhat will they find? What kind of mentality? What does the Mantuan have to say to them as he begins his sixth season in yellow and black?
«I don't know the Polti and Bardiani realities from the inside – admits Affini – I don't know exactly what they are used to, however I believe that Fiorelli and Piganzoli will make a qualitative leap in terms of attention to detail and nutrition, which here is certainly a very well-finished aspect. It makes me think especially in Piganzoli, if he wants to improve as a ranking man, perhaps initially as an important support for Jonas or Simon. Likewise, the entire performance level is taken care of to the maximum.
"I don't know if other teams have the same attention to detail, I don't know if it's possible. Maybe each team has its own emphasis on one thing rather than another, but I think they'll find something here. a very professional environment that supports them so they can improve. As for Mattio, he has been with us for three yearsIf you still haven't figured out what kind of environment we're talking about (laughs, ed.), maybe we have a problem..."
Time to grow up
My mind goes back to his first impression, even though he came from another WorldTour team: Mitchelton-Scott. The memory of those first weeks is very clear. He was 24 years old, like Piganzoli will be next year..
«When I passed through here – Affini recalls – surely I found the biggest difference in nutrition.Those were the years when they were just starting to push the carbs up a notch. Maybe I would have done it even if I'd stayed at Mitchelton, but here I found a radical change. It took me a bit of time to get used to it, but then everything worked really well. They try to help you grow, but they evaluate each case individually..
«A good example can be BrennanHe's 19 years old and has already started to show some numbers, to place and win races. So they took him where he could get results, but they didn't throw him into a Grand Tour or bring him to race so he could score pointsHe hasn't run for 90 days, so there's the idea that he'll grow step by step. So, thinking about our two youngest, it will also depend on how they respond to the different training loads, the different races. All in all, I imagine that on If there were more expectations at Polti for someone like Piganzoli, where was the flag, of those that he will initially have here with us."
A company with 250 employees
The only limitation of mega squadrons is the size of the large company that loosens human relationships And it makes everything rather schematic, something Piganzoli and Fiorelli certainly aren't used to yet. Affini agrees, but there's no way out. Take any company with hundreds of employees, is it reasonable to assume that everyone knows each other and is on good terms?
«From my experience – he says – I believe that there is the desire to try to maintain as much of the familiar and human aspect as possible. But it is inevitable that from a certain point of view it is inevitable that the teams are managed like companies, I read it in an interview you did with SobreroThe teams are getting bigger and bigger. We are too. looking at all the people who work there we will be around 250 people if not moreIt becomes difficult to have a close relationship with everyone. Maybe you have more contact with the riders or with your coach, so you can actually create a sort of familiarity. If you become part of the group preparing for a big race, you share the training camps, and then a relationship is necessarily created. But in the end... the team as a whole is run like a business, that's out of the question. You see certain people when you go on your first retreat of the year and then at the first retreat of the following year."
