In Tudor Pro Cycling who makes his debut at the Giro d'Italia, there is a debutante who appears on the pink stage and is Elisa Nicoletti, their press officerTwenty-five years old, always smiling: a pleasant person to deal with.
The world of communications professionals is quite complex, at least as much as keeping up with journalists' requestsThere are the press officers… torturers: those who make it their mission to prevent you from working. And then there are those who understand and come to your aid, provided you also recognize their reasons. For each of them, the start of the Line of Business it's a centrifugeThe team presentation press conferences will take place between tomorrow and Thursday, amidst a thousand interlocking elements and under the direction of RCS Sport. Then the rest of the race will be a matter of reporting and telling, making sure riders are visible even when they don't stand out and managing its popularity in the event of a conquest, large or small.
The first day of the Giro
Elisa is the daughter of Dario Nicoletti, a former professional, great Franco Ballerini's gregarious and now sporting director of Biesse-Carrera, which on April 25th won the Liberation Grand Prix in Rome. She has already followed a Giro, but on the side of the caravan. Therefore, it occurred to us to find out what a press officer puts in his briefcase for his first day of the Giro and for those that follow.
«I hope I don't forget anything – he says laughing – but there absolutely must be some in the folder Phone, computer, hard drive, chargers: chargers are importantThe power bank, the camera. And yesterday I received all the various tools for the GoPro. I already had it, but not the accessories to use it. Mainly this, I'd say, all the electronics...
«Instead, we have quite a few information about the riders, even if nowadays with sites like procyclingstats.com Getting information and statistics is really easy. More personal information comes out over time.So, for example, we know this year's new riders a little less, but the Giro d'Italia is the best opportunity. Interesting stories always come out, also because it is the first major Giro for the team and for some of the guys, we will certainly discover new things".
You'll find that doing the Giro with the caravan is probably not the same thing...
Let's just say I'll have a slightly more responsible role. The caravan is wonderful. There are always positive moments, meeting new people, stopping in the villages, seeing the crowds waiting for the race. It's a moment of celebration. With the team, it will be different. Even when you win, we hope to win of course, you always think about the next day. Cycling is ultimately made up of high moments, but they are few compared to the low ones. And you always have to look at the glass half empty. You can win, but the next day is always a new day. As happened, for example, in Romandie. We won the prologue with Maikel Zijlaard and two days later he crashed, he broke his elbow and… bye!
How do you think you will organize the work?
As a team, unlike others who publish a press release for each stage, we publish pieces on the website in the event of great results. So a victory, a podium, that is, very important moments. Instead, We tend to take the riders' statements and send them to the journalists' WhatsApp group. Then things can change based on requests. We're a Swiss team, so during the French-speaking season there was more activity around Yannis Voisard and we did more because there were so many expectations. It's obvious that a stage podium at the Giro d'Italia, as well as wearing a leader's jersey is more important than winning a much lower level race, so let's say we'll evaluate it day by day.
What is your relationship with the athletes on your team?
Given the way I grew up, in the role I always had in cycling with my dad's teams, in the past I was almost friends with the riders. Now we are talking more about work relationships, so it happens to very few people that they feelWe follow many of them on social media, we reply to each other's stories, but I'd say we hardly ever talk to anyone regularly. Some of us don't see each other much. For example last year I did 150-160 days of running, but with Arvid De Klejn I only did one runThe Milan-Turin, which he won. So I basically saw him in training camp, I saw him in that race, and then I saw him again at the training camp in October. That's also why, in the end, it's mostly a work relationship. This year the goal was also to follow Matteo and Alberto (Trentino e Dainese, ed.) compared to the various Italian media. Dainese was supposed to start at the Algarve and crashed. He was supposed to restart at the Tirreno, but he didn't get back on track. So I haven't seen him since the January training camp. But we've been in touch a lot, also because The requests from the various media mainly come to me or at least I take care of the Italian ones.
Can you tell? One of the least pleasant requests I get is the press officer asking to read the article before it's published...
It happens to me too to ask this, also because Tudor is an important person who pays a lot of attention to certain things.Our goal, however, is not so much to control, to change history as I have already said several times, but more make sure the name is spelled correctly, the person's role is indicated correctlyAnd above all, as has happened this year in various articles, being a professional who has to receive invitations, we cannot anticipate having received it too long in advance. Or at Tour of Abruzzo We had a Swiss journalist with us for the entire five days, covering Voisard's move toward French-speaking Switzerland. In that case, we wanted to make sure the information was accurate. After a while, you start to trust things.
How did Elisa Nicoletti get into cycling?
Mom and dad were both cyclists, but grandparents were also passionate about it. So from the age of six I decided I wanted to race bikes My older sister and I signed up for a local team. The first few months I'd go to the start line and not start, I'd start crying. Then I started running. I was a junior, a novice, and a student.But when my sister stopped, I watched her and realized she was having more fun than me, and I started to think about it. I was splitting my time between high school and cycling, it was quite tough to combine everything. And since in the end I liked what I was studying, I thought that I didn't have much talent, that I was certainly afraid of going downhill and of being in the group, so I preferred to focus on my studies. But I didn't stop with cycling, as I started going to races with my dad and his team. Before VC Mendrisio and then Biesse-Carrera.
So always among the riders?
I have pictures of when I was little and the riders came to sleep at our house the day before the racesWe have photos of them in the pool with my little sister in the middle of them. Having studied languages, when I started studying English, French, and German, speaking with them also helped me practice and overcome my shyness. When I then started working in Livigno, I had become the point of reference for my hotel colleagues when the riders arrived and they needed assistance. for check-in and any requests they may have.
Did it ever bother you to be the daughter of the sporting director?
No, for me it was beautiful. Weekends meant going to the races with dad, so much so that I even started arguing with my friends because they wanted to go out and I said no, because I had to wake up early. Since we were on a small team, he could afford to take us preferring that we develop this passion, rather than letting us wander around on Sundays without knowing what to do.
Is there a lucky charm I would have with you at the Giro?
No, but maybe I'll find it during the race and it will become one for the next few years.
So shall we see each other in Turin on Thursday?
I'd say so. I still have some business to take care of, and then it'll be time to start the press conferences...
