At 35 years old, Damiano Caruso is the last Italian to reach the podium at the Giro d'Italia. and if this year he did not defend his 2021 placing it was because the team sent him to France. Point. Cassani also said it, who on Friday included it among the most concrete Italians for the next GiroBut it's still too early to say whether next year will be different, and that's not even why we called it.
In fact, we are curious know what you think of the Giro route And above all, looking around, whether he saw among the young Italians anyone who could aim for a good placement in the future. And whether, reviewing his experience, Having an Italian WorldTour would really change things.
A Giro of breakaways
"Three stages with 5.000 meters of elevation gain," he says, "two of 4.000 meters. Several are close to 200 kilometers and even longer. Then the three time trials, the second of 33 and a half kilometers. It's a special tourAfter four days there is the first uphill finish and after another three we go to Campo Imperatore, which is pretty tough.
«It's the Giro's style to do long, hard stages, and in my opinion it's a bit of a countertrend. Because in the end It was seen that the most spectacular actions came in the 140-150 kilometre stagesThere are two of them, each 218 kilometers long. The Campo Imperatore route is a six-hour bike ride with a 4.000-meter elevation gain..
«I see a lot of breakaway stages. The Crans Montana stage (13th stage, ed.) has the last climb far from the San Bernardo and in the valley, which is done in Romandie, It's all decided by the wind that blows in one direction in the morning and in the other in the afternoon.They're long and you can't chase them all day. Who's shooting? It will be a Giro for people who are strong on the climbs, but who also have to be strong in the time trial."
They say Evenepoel…
We can expect anything from him. If he really comes, he will have a greater wealth of experience, an extra year of maturity and very high moraleHe'll definitely be one of the favorites. This guy, in my opinion, is still undiscovered. even he doesn't know his true limitsI didn't see any major drops in the Vuelta. On various occasions, the team managed itself intelligently and it was arrived at the end with ease. In the end theThe only one who could worry him on the climb was Roglic, but he self-eliminated.
There's also talk of him and Mas.
If these three names are confirmed, we already have the podium. If they come, there will be three teams equipped to support three captains., so the Giro starts to get more complicated. It won't be the classic Giro. The real problem in my opinion is to persist in wanting to resemble the TourIt must not be distorted, the Giro must live on its own light. You don't always have to try to do something to attract this or that rider. At some point, riders will understand that only a few can win the Tour. If I were a general classification rider, I would start winning the Giro. The problem comes from the teams, because Unfortunately for them the Tour is worth more and the reasoning stops being technical.
Let's talk a little about Italians?
Currently I don't see many who can aspire to the high ranking, but I would like to start seeing some someone trying to get into the top 10There is Fortunato, so the victory on Zoncolan It's become very difficult. We're not very well equipped for the Grand Tours, but for one-day races and stage finishes, in my opinion, we're not too bad off.
After Nibali it would have been Aru's turn, but he stopped even before that.
For sure we do not have Nibali's heir, We hope at least for a rider who has the desire to try and get into the rankings. We have Zambanini, which in 2022 showed that he can easily do this job and do it well. He needs to grow, he's not Pogacar, but he's working to improve. We need to take the good riders we have and give them time to mature.In my opinion, Zambanini is talented and, if he follows a growth path that is adequate to his potential, one day he may even be able to achieve above average results.
What do you think of Ciccone?
“Cicco” It's one of those on which There are great expectations, but perhaps he is not a Giro riderHe thinks so because it was instilled in him from the beginning. Take Formolo: they said he was a stage racer, the new Ivan BassoThey make you grow with a specific goal and make you believe that this is the path. Then, reprogramming during the process is not easy..
Your story is basically similar to Ciccone's, isn't it?
Not so much, I just got out of the habitMy generation was the last one that was told, I still remember it well: «Everything you have made by an amateur you have to forget it, here we start from scratch. You have to do your apprenticeship and carry water bottles. And then, little by little, if you show that you have talent, we'll give you space." Instead, perhaps this was detrimental, because I settled into the role they had assigned me.
You had Basso and Nibali in front of you…
When I arrived at Liquigas, For me it was already a dream to be able to do the Giro d'Italia with Ivan Basso. You can imagine if I thought I'd be the leader. The first time I was given the opportunity to race in the general classification was at the 2014 Vuelta, when I finished ninth. But I wasn't told I'd be starting as the leader. The following year I arrived eighth in the Giro and I started from the beginning with that goal..
At the 2012 Giro there was a key moment.
Perhaps the turning point of my entire careerOn the penultimate day, I was in the breakaway with Cunego and De Gendt. We were left alone on the Mortirolo; we had to descend and climb the Stelvio, where the finish line was. Instead, at the bottom of the Mortirolo I literally stopped to wait for Basso, who was with a small group behind. Yet at that moment I was super happy, because it seemed like a lot to me to drop back to wait for Ivan who had to try to win the Giro. In hindsight, if they hadn't stopped me that day, Maybe I wouldn't have won the stage, but another scenario would have opened up.
What happens to other Italians around the world…
How do you develop an Italian talent if he goes to other teams, where there are other great champions? If you want to fit into the group, you have to do what the team asks of you.Either you're talented and then already at 22-23 you tell the old man to go and shoot for you, otherwise you do what they tell you. If you want to work in this world, that's it. Sooner or later another Pantani will be born, but in the meantime let's make the most of what we haveWe're good at getting down, but in the meantime we have some certainties like Ganna and also many promising young players starting with Milan.
Strong, Johnny…
In my opinion he hasn't shown it yet not even 60 percent of its strengthJonathan is a… beast. This year at the Tour of Croatia he surprised me in an absurd way and he still has room for improvement. He has yet to start training as a professional, because for one reason or another he has played so far and had a few injuries.
What can it do?
If he arrives in good condition for a major Giro and above all manages to control his enthusiasm, with a little experience within 2-3 years he will become one of the strongest sprinters in the world. But it can also be good for Flanders and Roubaix, Jonathan, in my opinion, has considerable margins, he's brute force. This one, he's a bull.
And he's only 22 years old
Don't tell me. Al Tour of Croatia I was the oldest one sitting at the table and one day we celebrated Santiago Buitrago's birthday when he was 23, then his birthday when he was 22. And I was frustrated thinking that the following week at home I would have turned 35.
Plans?
Now we are resting peacefully and then in December there will be the classic retreat in Altea and then another in JanuaryThere will be a group returning to Australia, but I think I'll start in Spain at the end of February. Anyway, in Europe, We old folks avoid certain trips, with all those temperature changesThen we'll see what plan to make. I've made a request, we'll see if it's accepted. For now, I'm staying at home with my family. Today I took a little walk late, it's pretty hot hereDown by the sea they still swim.
