It was February 25, 1995, exactly 30 years ago, when Franco Ballerini won the Het Volk and, reading an omen in it, soon after he conquered the first Roubaix. In 2008, Het volk became Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, it will be run on Saturday from Ghent to Ninove and there is no warrior from the North who does not long to test himself. These were his days. The time of a passage to the Sanremo and Ballero would have disappeared for three weeks on the roads of the North. As it used to be done, when that trip was a mission for real soldiers. You took possession of a hotel, usually a small one because the big chains didn't exist yet, and We spent our time training on the walls and on the cobblestones with the same group of teammates, day after day.
15 years have passed since Franco has left us and from that day on, especially when you start looking towards the North, there is not a single moment in which the mind of those who knew him does not return to him. For this reason and to feel how things are going, we thought we would refresh our memories with the help of Sabrina Ricasoli, his wife and mother of Gianmarco and Matteo. Franco's childrenThe ones he showed you on his cell phone every time you asked about them and he told you at least one anecdote about each one, from which they emerged like the jewels they became as they grew up.
The Belgian countryside, Sabrina, do you remember?
I remember yes. The Northern campaign is that Franco moved to Belgium for 20-25 days And when the year began, it was all about looking forward to those days up there. He rode his bike with my dad (the two are together in the opening photo at Roubaix, after the 1995 victory, ed.). The daily rides, but I don't remember him having a patch of cobblestones to practice on. The distances were very long during the week. The diet, because he shouldn't have gained weightOne test after another. Everything in the winter preparations was geared towards the Belgian campaign.
Is it true that at a certain point your mood also changed?
To make it clear, I'll tell you this. Matteo looks a lot like him, in appearance but even more so in character.Obviously, he's not a public figure, so maybe people don't notice. But sometimes he stays silent for a whole week. And if I talk to him, I'm talking to myself. Even Franco could remain silent for a whole week, but not because he wasn't a cheerful person anymore. It was just his concentration, I don't know what it was. I know that many times she talked to herself with him too, Here you are.
Given how cheerful you often are, it was a good thing to go, wasn't it?
Yes, yes, exactly. And then, wait, the great thing is that everything had to go smoothly with the preparation. There wasn't supposed to be a cold, there wasn't supposed to be a flu at allIf the children—Gianmarco was there at the time—brought back a virus or the flu from nursery, Franco obviously slept in another room. These were the situations, then maybe he was the first one to get sick and we didn'tPrevention was done like this at that time.
Did he have to go on a diet?
He was very focused on his food, a huge family tragedy. Unfortunately, Franco had a tendency to gain weight, especially in winter.When there weren't competitions he didn't eat incredibly, precisely because he was careful about it. In my opinion he ate a lot more when he started trainingI ended up cooking him a lot of pasta, but without oil or butter, without cream, without seasoning. Maybe that's why I don't know how to cook anything, between the fact that I don't like cooking and the fact that I only learned how to grill meat and make pasta with tomato sauce. But I'll wash the salads however you like... (laughs, ed.).
That's why you're always so thin, that's the secret...
Indeed! Gianmarco spent a lot of time eating at my mother's house, because for the first 2-3 years after he was born, we lived with her. He's an incredible eater, he likes everything and when he says to me: "Mom, I'm having dinner at your place!", I cross myself, so that he doesn't satisfy her with a dish. Franco ate in a healthier way, which I like, because it's simple to prepare.
Until the time came to pack our bags for the North…
The packing phase was actually normal, there wasn't any tension or emotion. It was known that it was the most important time of the year for him and for us as a family.But the situation was calm, it didn't give us much to worry about. In 1998 he put a keychain made at the nursery by Gianmarco for Father's Day in his suitcase.. Instead, when he became a citizen, he didn't leave for the World Cup without the red watch. Before my children arrived, I also happened to go upI remember a year with Cipollini's wife, and we had a blast. Then it stopped, while my father continued to go with the fans. But listen to what happened the other day...
What?
Now my children are both engaged, Gianmarco also has a child: Cristian. And the other day his partner said: "Why don't we go to Roubaix one day?"For Matteo, Franco's death was a taboo until almost three years ago. He couldn't talk about it at all, and if he did, he'd just walk away. He never attended demonstrations or commemorations. But since he got engaged, I have to give credit to his girlfriend, things have changed.. Furthermore, working in a car dealership, he comes into contact with the public and sometimes people ask him if he is Franco's son. And so he found himself having to tear down, brick by brick, this wall that was around him.And now he likes it, he talks about it and watches his dad's races. He talks about it too much, for such a closed-minded guy. So who knows if all four of them will one day go to Roubaix, to see the velodrome and all those places up there.
What do you remember about when Franco won his first Roubaix? We were with him and we remember the phone call home and Gianmarco saying, "Dad, rubé! Dad, rubé!"
Yes, because Gianmarco was two years old in 1995. In fact, he hadn't even turned two yet. It was a mess thereThe people of the village from all over, this child that I couldn't even find and they took him away to keep. In short, an incredible vortexAnd how can we forget? It was our life, impossible not to remember it.
One of the fondest memories of coming to you shortly after that victory was the muddy memorabilia on display in the house.
They're still here. You know, you get used to everything in life, right? But you understand that these are things of a certain value when you meet a person who makes you understand it.. And I, look at fate, I met her at a charity dinner made on Valentine's Day for Meyer (the pediatric hospital in Florence, ed.) in Franco's name. There was a guy there, and we had the bike from the last Roubaix, the one that was all covered in mud. And at a certain point he said he had to get up to go and see it up close, and he went. He got emotional and then came over to me and couldn't believe I still had the shoes I had on that day.And I could see he was really excited, so I told myself that it's true that they are precious memories. And after all, when that's the case, you make them even more valuable...
