Yesterday was the first lap on the Amstel River, tomorrow the debut. And then it will be the same for the Flèche Wallonne and the Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Matteo Sobrero has never run around here, so when he was told that he will also be the leader of the Team Jayco-AlUla, the only thing he could do was smile. Let's go see.
The Piedmontese's 2023 has taken a good turn. Victory was missed, but three top-four finishes came at the Tour of the Basque Country., where everyone was really going strong. And Sobrero, who had never started so brilliantly, he rolled up his sleeves and accepted the challenge from the North tooAt 25, these are the turning points that make you grow.
«I was hoping to get some more results – he explains – but in the end I'm happy because the main objective of this first part of the season was the Basque Country, then the Ardennes and the Giro. So for now it's fine, the important thing is that the condition is good."
Christmas Eve in the Castle
The hotel Bloemendal Castle where the Australian team is staying is worth the price of the ticket in itself. It had to be the residence of a noble cloth manufacturer from Aachen, supplier of the Tsar of Russia, who began to build it in 1791, only to die in 1795. The works were then completed by his son, but in 1846 the castle changed hands and became a college of the female order of the Sacre Coeur.
During the Nazi occupation it was then transformed into a lazaretto with a capacity of 350 beds, before returning to being a college until 1970. Passed under the control of the Municipality of Vaals, in 1990 it was transformed into a hotelAnd right here, at this point where the borders of Holland, Belgium and Germany meet, Sobrero also arrived yesterday afternoon.
Let's start with the Basques then. A second-place finish and two fourth-place finishes—which one stings the most?
More than second place, I'm saddened by the fourth place in the stage won by higuita, because there a victory was definitely there. Instead, I took the sprint quite far back and made a strong comeback, but late. That's why I'm a little more pissed off. But let's say that I did six stages without ever leaving the top 20. It's just a shame that on the last day I paid and dropped out of the rankings. I was fifth, I found myself sixteenthPerhaps a top 10 overall finish would have been a great satisfaction in a tough race like the Basques.
Is this brilliance the result of the condition or of a different preparation?
We decided to change something. This winter together with Pinotti I worked a little more on distances, on enduranceI focused more on the road and not just on time trials. And then I think that an extra season as a professional has given me greater maturityIn the end, every year you improve a little and in the end the sum is what has brought me to certain placings.
The idea of making you a Giri man remains, but will we get there by waiting for the necessary maturation?
Exact. I don't want to put too much pressure on myself and the same goes for these classics.I will run as captain, because Matthews will not be there. He would have been the designated captain., but he crashed in the races in Belgium and preferred to focus on the altitude for the Giro. At that point, the team saw that I was doing well, that I was strong in the Basque Country, and they simply told me they'd do the race for me. I've never done these races, but I've been saying for many years that I want to try., because they tell me they're suitable. So now we'll see, class by class, day by day.
Let's take a step back: have you worked more on the road, on the eve of a Giro that features three time trials?
In October we met with the team to prepare for this season and define our objectives. At the Giro presentation I saw that we yes, there are three chronographs, but it is difficult to find one like the one in Verona last year (in 2022, Sobrero won the last time trial of the Giro, ed.). As for characteristics, the first in Abruzzo could be similar to the one in Budapest, maybe even faster. So maybe it's the only one I can try, even if anyway Ganna, Remco and also Foss will be there. The second one is very flat, while the last one is a time trial.
Terrible travel companions, in short…
There will be a lot of quality and then Pinotti, laughing, said to me: «You could finish in the top 10 in all three time trials, but without getting the full result». After this observation, we confirmed that I will do the Giro, but with a different approachWe've put the time trial aside for a bit and decided to focus on the individual stages by going on the breakaway. This is why the preparation has changed a little.
Does something like this, when proposed to a chronoman, destabilize or stimulate?
The truth is that for me the time trial will always be thereIt's something that remains, because I work on it every week anyway. But I told myself that I can sacrifice a specific training, doing one more day on the road bikeAnd this is certainly also an extra incentive to improve and grow on a different front. After all, Filippo (Ganna, ed.) has demonstrated that if someone is fast in time trials, they are also fast on the road.
So you'll ride up here to Liège and then what will you do in the two weeks before the Giro?
I have little time. For a few days I looked at going to high altitude, but in the end it would be too much of a stretch, too stressful.I will still have to stay away for the three weeks of the Giro and so I told myself that in the end it's better to stay at home. It doesn't change anything to spend 10 more days at altitude.
Will you be staying in Belgium next week?
It seems so, but it's only been ten days. It's a good thing because I'll have the chance to train on the race courses. Yesterday we did a reconnaissance on the Amstel roads, which together with the Flèche Wallonne is perhaps the one that suits me best…
Over the winter, the UCI changed its bike size regulations. Have there been any changes for you, especially considering you're a time trialist?
Actually, no. On the road I changed bikes, in the sense that The Propel has arrived, the new model from Giant and now I think I will always use that oneIt's a more complete bike, but the position is still the same. And it's remained same as stopwatch too, because in the end they changed the rules for the higher onesI'm under 80m, so for me the position has remained unchanged. Pinotti he explained to me that I'm missing those three centimeters to be able to change it. I told my mom she could have tried harder (laughs, ed.), but now it's done...
