The cycling world and its members often gather in the squares where races start. For a few hours, those few, or many, square meters of open air become a universe unto themselves. We run up and down, greeting each other, exchanging smiles and a few words with everyoneThen the race takes everything away and we set off again, towards other cities or towards home. In the final period at the various starting points one figure was missing, that of Filippo Rocchetti, the young sports director we got to know with the UC Trevigiani (Photors.it opening credits). We noticed his absence from the Piva Trophy, it was early April. We messaged to check on him, but no response.
Step back
Then to the Giro Next Gen we noticed that his absence continued, indeed in his place there was a new figure in the team: Rino de Candido, former city manager of the junior national team and of the Friulian representative team, also juniors. So intrigued we returned to Filippo Rocchetti, this time the message was followed by a reply and a phone call to tell the story.
“I ended my relationship with Trevigiani,” he says during a lunch break at work, “at the end of April. The reason is simple: at the beginning of the year, plans had been made that were then not respected.It was decided to join as a continental team to broaden the calendar and offer a series of races to the kids. Last year (when the team was still affiliated as a club, ed.) we had taken the first steps in this directionWe had gone for a run to the Ronde of l'Isard and then in Hungary."
What were the plans for this season?
I had been talking to the company since November and with affiliation as a continental we had agreed to run the Coppi e Bartali, the Giro d'Abruzzo and also the Ronde of l'IsardIn the end, however, we didn't go, and in fact we found ourselves with a shorter schedule than last year (it was announced a few days ago that Trevigiani won't even race in the Giro della Valle d'Aosta, ed.).
When you presented the calendar, were you in agreement with the company?
Yes, also because when I was looking for riders for this season I told them that we would do certain races. Anyway we took guys from I have to team up (Raffaele Mosca, ed.) and some from other continental formationsSo I asked myself: "Why do we also do continental affiliation, if we don't then offer a high-level calendar?"
How did you handle it?
When I realized that the intent was not to respect the commitments I decided to take a step back, also because I was the one who ultimately put my face on the line with the riders. They came to me to ask why we didn't go to the races.It also happened with bicycles and materials, we had an agreement with Bottecchia on the supply of bicycles and wheels that the team then didn't fully respect.
What did you tell the boys?
Nothing, they have to follow their sporting path. I don't think it made sense to involve them in certain dynamics at a corporate levelI certainly feel sorry for the kids because the project was different and they had been taken on with a different program.
Was there no way to repair and start again?
No. Ultimately, I believe that if you want to build a solid team, you have to go to the sponsor and present a specific project. Unfortunately, it is not possible to do this in all situations.It is not always important to create a valuable calendar and propose an activity that helps children grow, especially in the under 23 category where you can find competitive riders ready for professionalism.
Was joining as a continental team one of the requests made at the beginning of the season?
No, for my part I would have remained even with the affiliation as a club. What really interested me was the project. Finally last year we brought out a rider like Zamperini, we could have done the same with other kids.
Will we see you as a group again soon?
I'm standing still right now, I don't have anything in mind. I still have to think about it.
