Alejandro's statements Valverde, intending to race the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta d'Espana in 2022, have toured the world. Everyone emphasizes that, if he were to do so, he would reach the record of 32 Grand Tours, but it wouldn't be a true record. The rider who has competed in the most three-week races is, in fact, Matteo Tosatto, from Veneto., who has put to good use his experience gained in twenty years of militancy in the group, becoming a pillar of the Ineos Grenadiers.
Tosatto is not one to boast, yet this still represents a record: If you think about it, it means having faced over 600 days in the saddle just to tackle the Giro, Tour or Vuelta, almost two years without stopping: «The great thing – he says, betraying a smile – is that one year, 1998, I didn't even compete in a Grand Tour, so the 34 events are even more concentrated…».
How come you've competed in such a number of major stage races?
One of my main features was the fund: I always did better in the third week than in the first and this was a detail that was very convenient for the managers, when I had to work for the captains. I kept getting stronger, trying to save some money at the beginning so I could be brilliant when it was really needed.
Let's do some math: 13 Giro d'Italias, 11 of which you completed, 12 Tours all completed, 9 Vueltas, 5 of which you finished…
Yes, but each of the 4 retreats took place in the last week due to specific agreements with the team. I was always expected to race in the World Championships and so I asked to skip the last 3-4 stages to be able to take a break before leaving for the World Championships.The Vuelta ended on Sunday and the following day was always the World Championships. If I could save some energy, it was better. The blue jersey has always had a special meaning for me.
At the Giro d'Italia?
In 2000 I withdrew before the seventeenth stage because I had a bad case of bronchitis, instead in 2003 I finished out of time in the famous Fauniera hamlet, with the roads full of iceI had remained to protect Petacchi, then Alessandro told me to go because he was staying with him. Cioni, but we couldn't risk going downhill. That day I arrived with a group of about fifty riders., but the jury sent us all home…
Completing 12 Tours is already a huge feat: which one made the biggest impression on you?
Certainly the first, in 1997 because it was also the first major Giro I tackled and finishing it on the Champs Elysees made me very proud. I was a neopro, I remember that I struggled a lot, but even then in the last week, in the Alps, I felt better than in the Pyrenees or the Massif Central.I was also happy in 2016, my last year, when I managed to finish both the Giro and the Tour despite being 42 years old (in the opening photo he is on the podium in Arezzo at that year's Giro, on his 42nd birthday, ed.). I worked a lot for Sagan in France and his three victories were also a bit mine.What struck me was that I was holding up better uphill than I was at the beginning of my career…
In these almost two years of stages through sun and rain, plains and mountains, have you had days of freedom, when the team worked for you?
It happened, it always happens in a rider's career. In '99, at Ballan, we were racing for Simoni, but on the day of the stage that arrived in Castelfranco Veneto, my home, the team worked for my sprint and I was beaten only by CipolliniThat year I did well, I had several top 10 finishes. Two years later I achieved complete success in Montebelluna, in that edition I also wore the pink jersey. But I can't forget the victory in the 2006 Tour in Macon either: Quick Step was all for me. Boonen, but when the Belgian wasn't feeling his best, we raced based on our feelings and that was my day.
How much satisfaction does this record give you?
A lot, it means that something remains of my career. I don't regret anything, I've always worked and had my days too.Speaking of satisfaction, I remember when in 2014, at the last Vuelta he won Counter, “El Pistolero” came up to me at the end and told me he had never seen a rider with my head, so strong and tenacious in character. For me it was a great reward coming from him.
If he were to decide to continue in 2023, Valverde could match you…
I sincerely wish this for you, but I also know that there is a difference: We're talking about a champion who not only raced them, but was a protagonist. He won the Vuelta and then became a world champion and conquered great classics.. You can't make a comparison because we have had different careers and in this regard I want to add something.
Please…
Working in the environment, the thing that saddens me most about cycling today is that we are increasingly missing the team mates of the past, understood as men who sacrifice themselves. What is missing is those who create the group and without it we won't get very far.Running 34 Laps? After Valverde, who knows if there'll be anyone left who can do it…
