A book wouldn't be enough. And if they wrote one about Nibali after the Tour, Michele Pallini's, which tells the same things from his point of view, would be an interesting read.. So what was meant to be a phone call to collect the masseur's anecdotes turned into an hour and a half journey to be summarized for reasons of space and because certain things said in confidence are best left unwritten. But when we're done, the feeling was that I had just started the conversation.
Pallini-Nibali: After 14 years, how would you define your relationship?
I thought it only from a professional perspective, instead I had to put something else in there tooIn the sense that when you live in close contact with another person, something is born, a slightly deeper friendship. My wife says we have the same character. So even if two equal signs repel each other, being similar has often helped us. We are quite taciturn, we don't like partiesMaybe, given the age difference, he's a bit more of a party animal, but everything is taken in proportion. We've been on trips where we never spoke. But I was fine with it and he was fine with it.
Has success changed things?
At some point, Vincenzo became Nibali. At that moment, as Martino says, everyone pulls you by the jacket, in the sense that Even professionally, many people approached me and I think I attracted some people's antipathy.. Because maybe I took the liberty of giving him some advice, even though Vincenzo has clearly always done things his own way. What I was telling him was weighty, but in the end he wanted to put his finger on it.I've always tried to put him at the center of attention and create a team that would help him give his best. The first year in Astana I was alone, Slongo wasn't there, Dr. Magni wasn't there. And so I found myself dealing with many situations.
Not an easy thing…
In reality, Paolo was already there in 2013, but behind the scenes. The biggest problem was his, since he still worked for LiquigasIf it came out too clearly, he could have had problems. Amadio wanted to keep him, but then he reached an agreement with Zani for 2014 and he joined us. At that point, there was a lack of a figure in the medical staff and the name of Emilio Magni came up, who also took care of the nutritional part. During the stage I went on the Liquigas bus and asked them what I had to eat or how much.We were also missing a person for you journalists and Geoffrey Pizzorni arrived (today in the same role at Bike Exchange, editor's note).
Do the good moments coincide with the victories?
Not necessarily, because when you win you suffer, it's not all glitterWhat weighs on working with an athlete like him is the sense of responsibility and the fear that something might happen. Responsibility creates anxiety, so If I were to say that I had 21 wonderful days at the Tour, I would be a liar. (Pallini smiles, ed.) You're always worried about falling, afraid something might happen. You work hard to make sure everything goes well, that the team performs well. And then things happen that you can't see from the outside.
For example?
In 2012 when he finished third in the Tour, He arrived at the start of a Pyrenean stage and had a small strain from the day before, but he hadn't told me about it. There was nothing I could do about it, so I applied a small bandage and at that point Basso played with experienceThey practically pulled all day, making it look like Vincenzo was doing the stage. In reality they were pulling because he was sick and they were taking the pace he could bear.Two days later there was the time trial which Wiggins won.
What anxiety…
These are all worries. In the end you enjoy it, but it's not like everything always goes smoothly during the race.There are so many details to take care of. I'll tell you a stupid story from when we won the Tour. After arriving, Vincenzo drinks sparkling water, but when you went backstage at the awards ceremony, you couldn't bring anything that wasn't sponsored by Vittel. Not even the team's water bottles. So I filled the Vittel bottles with sparkling water and brought it to him.Sitting here, everything is easy, things seem strange. But in a Tour, especially around the 13th-15th stage, when maybe the day has gone badly and you've struggled more than usual, Even the most relaxed rider gets a little anxious. So you have to do everything you can to keep them calm. Maybe you can't see anything from the outside...
Just stress?
Of course there are also good moments. I think I've never seen him as happy as he was when he won the Sanremo.He kept telling me: "But how did I do it? I won the Sanremo, do you realize?" He kept telling me these sentences. These are things that come to you suddenly, because We would never have expected a Sanremo and even less that oneWe'd had a very calm eve, because we knew we had to run for Colbrelli. There was tension on the bus, because Sanremo always creates tension, but it wasn't like when you know you have to run. He is considered the quiet one, which in recent years has become less so., but still you think that you don't want to make any mistakes, the power supply so as not to switch off too soon…
Do you think it ultimately suffered the passage of time?
No, but I think he realized he was no longer competitive and this gave him a bit of insecurity. and consequently also a bit of anxiety and nervousness. Yet to understand that He retired It will take two or three years, maybe when he stops competing in some mountain bike races. I went to his place for lunch on Monday and he did nothing but tell me of the race on Elba, who had underestimated her, who ate little and consumed a lot… I believe that there is no switch that turns off competitive spirit., I think that Fabio (Aru, ed.) was proportionally more aware.
Valverde said more or less the same things.
The difference between Vincenzo and Alejandro is that Valverde has been a little more consistentMaybe he's less skilled on the bike, but looking at them they're practically the same and should have the same weight or at least a minimal difference. Instead, from the photos you can see that Alejandro was more careful until the end.If Vincenzo had been as heavy as Valverde at the Lombardia, they wouldn't have overtaken him on the Civiglio. He struggled a lot at the Giro, because he's also getting older. But at a certain point, when Lopez retired, he realized that it was his turnThere was a bit of condition, we spoke with Magni and told him: «Look, if you get to the climbs with this weight, you can stay there, then we'll see where we get to». And in the second week he made a sacrifice that he hadn't made for a while and managed to slow down during the GiroWe arrived at the start of the last mountain stage with the weight of half of the 2014 Tour. In the Risoul stage, he thought 63 kilos, in the Lombardy he was maybe 67. Those 4 kilos at these levels are a lot for many reasons.
Difficult to get off?
When we had to choose for return to Astana last year, there had been the offer of Quick Step who had made him a half-proposal to join EvenepoelI told him: «Listen to me, if you tell me what you want to do a season dedicated only to cycling, because it's the last one and you don't want any distractions and you'll live only for that, I'm with you. But just tell me half a time that you want to think about it, then I say it's better not. Because if you're not 100 percent convinced, at the first difficulty you give up everything." He was also good at recognizing it, because he could even delude himself that he would make it and then maybe he would hit the door in the faceHe had already tried training differently when he argued with Slongo, but things didn't go well there either...
Did the bad times coincide with the difficult times in the race?
Maybe yes, because they went hand in hand with physical problems, which create anxiety, depression, and fear. Everyone knows the crash at the Tour or the crash at the Olympics, but For example, no one can imagine how much the fall at the 2011 Italian championship in Sicily weighed on him., won by Visconti, after a Giro in which he hoped to do much better. That was a coup that no one ever talked about, but which weighed heavily on him.
Instead the fall of the Tour?
The problem was the coincidence of a World Cup suited to him, which he wanted to go to. If it had been like this year, he wouldn't have had the surgery and therefore he would have had a few less problems. The surgery itself wasn't that invasive, but for an athlete of that calibre it took time to return to a certain levelWe, on the other hand, had to speed things up. After 3-4 days, we went home. The doctor told him he could get on the rollers after 5 days, but he got on the bike straight away. and it felt like he'd never been there in his life. We started from there. With his cousin Cosimo dropping him and him saying: "But how can I race the Vuelta if Cosimo drops me?"He always says: "If I could go back, I wouldn't compete in the World Cup and I wouldn't have the operation."
How does Pallini see Nibali in his later years?
The adult Nibali still has some growing to do. Vincenzo grew up on a bike and is now a child again, because this is a whole different type of approach and work. So he needs to gain experience, grow, gain experience and after that I think he can also be an excellent team manager. Because he has the possibilities. He says no, but in my opinion it is a great glue with sponsors and knows what is needed within a cycling teamAnd if he can understand the internal problems, the dynamics between staff, riders, management, and sponsors, I think he can do it.
Do you think you'll massage him again?
I'll wait for him, definitely yes. In fact I left the cot at his houseI told him to keep it, that it could be useful. I had one at his house, in a small room where he gave massagesSooner or later we'll end up doing it again...
