From this year, Among the cycling voices on Eurosport, Moreno Moser's landed And it's undeniable that he brought a breath of fresh air and technique, especially thanks to the contacts with those who until yesterday were colleagues and today are still great friends. So some of his words in the early days of the Giro began to resonate in our heads, until, taking advantage of a sluggish moment in the race, we called him. His speech focused on the fact that A rider's work is hard and not for everyone. And if someone stops early, it's because they can't handle the load.
Prima From the mill. Then there are cases that few people are aware of, like that of the Olympic mountain biker Jenny Rissveds. So Visconti. And now Nibali (opening with Moreno, at the 2013 Tirreno). Different cases and different ages, but with a common denominator.
What is happening, according to Moreno Moser?
You always go faster and you have to adapt. That's how it is. You train harder, you adapt for survival.
Is this the only possible way?
What Bettiol told me is that it's now so all-encompassing that you have to take this job step by step. From now until the Tour, I no longer exist; I'm a robot. Life is just about cycling and training. Recovery will come later. Then there are riders like Van Aert, who manage to last the whole year, but he's a special case...
Why?
Did you see on his Strava what he did the day after Sanremo? He went for a 6km run on the Sanremo cycle path and at a good pace too, but he's an exception. You certainly can't do things like you used to, when you came to the competitions to train. While it's a fact that in training you go faster.
Have you had any confirmation from the riders?
From them, but also from Maurizio Mazzoleni (the trainer of the Astana Qazaqstan Team, ed.) who told me to having had to change the travel times of the various training lapsToday the same ride is much faster, while when I was racing, you rode your bike, did your job and didn't care what average you got home with. Formolo, for example, tells me that he almost doesn't do any more work, the same goes for PogacarHave you seen Giorgio Brambilla's work on GCN on Van der Poel's preparation before Sanremo?
What did he do in particular?
He started looking at what Mathieu uploaded to Strava before the Classicissima, since he really puts everything into it. And it turned out that today an amateur would do more specific jobs. It's the new trend, you train so hard. And then in competition you're out of your mind...
Is it normal that we run less, then?
In 2014 and 2015 I did about 85 days of running, today it would be unthinkable to do more than 60. So much so that at an international level a limit of 65 days of racing per year has been set.But even if you wanted to, you couldn't do more. In reality, this Giro began the old-fashioned way…
True, it's calmer...
They start like they used to. They let the run go. Then when they open up at the end, you see more important shots and moves.The Roubaix and Liège that I commented on, however, were races of exhaustion. A game of who could turn off the power the latest.
Everything changed in 2020, when every race felt like it was the last…
It may be a correct analysis. However, the Giro tells us that the situation is returning to normal., now that Covid is less scary and the calendars are stable. Even Van der Poel and Van Aert have now learned to raceThose attacks were beautiful, but now Van der Poel began to optimize resources.
Pozzovivo said that racing against these guys forced him to raise the bar, and those who stopped weren't able to adapt.
This analysis made by a rider like Pozzo is crazy. Rethink Nibali's statements at the 2020 Giro: "I'm at my best, but they're not enough."It's true, because every year we go faster. Pozzovivo is right. If everyone is growing up, the only way to stay in it is to grow up.It seems to me that even when making programs for the youngest, it is immediately established what the increase will be from one year to the next.
And if you have somewhat classic habits, you're done for...
We grew up with the idea of doing the same things every yearI remember what Basso and Nibali told us. By doing the same things that had borne fruit, one could be sure that one would go strong.If I do that, I'll get to my level. There wasn't the vision today. Looking around, one who anticipated this trend was Valverde.
Because of his training style?
Exactly, Luis Leon Sanchez told me that Alejandro has never done any work. He has his own group of amateurs and they train every time with all their might. (the story confirms what said a few days ago by Visconti, ed.). To the point that on some days they block intersections, so that people can run undisturbed. But at the same time, Valverde is the flag for having fun while cycling, not about doing jobs like going to a factory.
Understandably, sooner or later there is a risk of reaching the breaking point.
The breaking point is that the riders don't last longI hear managers and agents resigned to this reality. Certainly Careers like those of Nibali or Valverde will be increasingly difficult to see.
