It all starts again from here, from Montichiari, from the polished wood of this cycling auditorium, where the wheels rustle and the voices bounce. Viviani moves like the master returning after a long journey and in fact the Veronese has just arrived from Almeria, where he saw his teammates Cofidis Running, biding his time. The heart's trick cost him a long delay in the start of the season, but now that everything is in order, we can think about restarting from the UAE Tour, now in a few days.
Test in 3D
There are many things to do. There are the men from Pinarello waiting with the 3D scanner to check that the handlebars are working properly. Today, all the Italian riders were tested, including Salvoldi's girls. Viviani was the last. The quartet's perfection also depends on optimizing flow and improving aerodynamic penetration. The first step in the test involves placing rubberized paper around the handlebars to prevent reflections from the alloy. Then the athlete, with the bike on the roller, gets into the most aerodynamic position and stays there for two minutes, during which the scanner operator walks around it, taking all the necessary measurements. The resulting 3D shape gradually appears on the computer display after a few minutes as the data is processed.
While all the Azzurri got on their bikes and immediately got into the required position, Elia started pedaling to achieve the perfect symbiosis with the bike and stopped after about ten minutes, starting the survey.
His refuge
When the 3D silhouette materialized on the screen, Elia signed the release then he went to get ready for track training. What he missed last year, and for which he flew all the way here from Spain, forgoing a trip to Verona to visit his parents. Elena Cecchini, his partner, is in Spain on a training camp with the team.
«The track is like a refuge – says Viviani – and I tried to go back last year between the Tour and the Giro, but it was late and not having continuity had taken away my motivation. At the World Championships in Berlin I realized that I was far from the top and on the road it was clear that something was missing in sprintingPhysically and mentally. We work hard here, and being with such a strong group motivates me to work harder. Once upon a time I was the one who made the difference, now I have to roll up my sleevesI was here before Christmas, then in January and the next retreat will be in March."
Scartezzini asks for small changes to the setup Milan and Pinarello's men before the test Location verification also for Elisa Balsamo Last day on the track for Milan, then UAE Tour Martina Alzini takes the position test Pinarello bikes for group disciplines And for Bertazzo's ailments, the expert hands of Morini
Scartezzini asks for small changes to the setup Milan and Pinarello's men before the test Location verification also for Elisa Balsamo Last day on the track for Milan, then UAE Tour Martina Alzini takes the position test Pinarello bikes for group disciplines And for Bertazzo's ailments, the expert hands of Morini
First the road
It's hard to understand whether the road or the Olympics comes first in his mind at the moment, even if, looking into the matter further, it becomes clear that the two speeches are really 100 percent complementary.
«Objectively, there is a feedback in the legs – he explains – of the hard work done to get back to having the winning peak watts. Last year I had very high average values, but it was as if I had the limiterIf they leave me in fourth place in the Paris stage, I'll fight to win, I won't finish fifth. This is what we've worked on and will continue to work on in the coming days. on standing starts and sprints launched with the quartetIt's nice to see the guys working for me. We manage to simulate road racing situations, using track ratiosSo when I find myself sprinting with the 54x11, it won't seem so tough. From now on, it'll all be a matter of management, giving continuity to the track and taking what's good along the way. Then, like in 2016, the time will come when a line will be drawn and from there, it will be just the track. But first, we need to get off to a good start. A victory would bring added peace of mind.».
Goodbye rationality
In the meantime cycling has changed and with cycling the sprinters have changedAll the sprinters we spoke to said it: fast courses are now a thing of the past.
"We're happy," Viviani admits, "if we find a race with a 2.000-meter elevation gain. Of the sprinters after Kittel, Groenewegen and Jakobsen remain.The others are all 73-75 kilo riders, who skip the climbs and can finish a major Giro. There are many of them in every race. My goal is return Elia who won the Italian championship in 2018-19, Hamburg, Plouay, But first I want to start winning a lot again. It's a chain reaction: if you start with the first step, the others will follow. Instead Not winning is exhausting, you start analyzing the impossibleYou try to change a thousand things. I started sprinting alone, even though I knew I'd done better things on the train. Rationality, which has always been my strong point, has gone to waste.».
Deceuninck model
And so, while Elia looks for a magnet to apply to the rear lens and finally make the Garmin work, the conversation turns to an old adage that circulates in cycling: How come everyone who leaves Deceuninck never wins again?
"It's hard to recreate the atmosphere there," he says, "but frankly, I didn't think it was that obvious. When Kittel left, I thought one man alone couldn't go to another team and make a difference. It seemed simple; all it took was recreating the same dynamics. I triedMorkov was still under contract, but Sabatini is equally as strong. It's just not enough. There you have riders who push all day, here you have a hard time asking for it, since you don't winWho knows, maybe if I had gotten going right away in Australia, instead of falling, everything would have been different. But in any case, it's not just Elia who didn't go, it was the team that didn't shine. The first year in the WorldTour and the fact that the smaller races were cancelled meant that we always had to face extremely high challenges."
Numbers and sensations
Adesso everything seems fineThe chip they inserted under his skin just above his heart checks that his heartbeats are in order and so gradually the activity resumed at full capacity.
«In modern cycling – explains Elia – the real indicators of the condition are the numbers, but the days that make you think that things are going well are the long ones where you come home still feeling good. Last Saturday I ran the last distance in Almeria. The first two hours were spent with my companions who would be running the next day, so 5 and a half hours alone, with sprints behind the car and I came back still feeling good. In a week I improved a lotThat's why I'm going to the UAE. And also because it wouldn't be right to send my team without me. It's the perfect race to get back into. There are flat stages. You can try the train.A good week to work on. I'll be happy to finish fifth or sixth. But if I were to be up there, I'd sprint for the win and I wouldn't be happy to finish fourth..."
