A photo on Instagram. Garofoli is bent over his bike, exhausted from the effort, as he reaches Villablino's finish line at the Vuelta. Behind him is his father, who barely puts his hand on his back, almost afraid of hurting him.The comment next to it reads: «Always by my side. Daddy».
What drives a father to follow his son to such a distant place? Why did Gianluca Garofoli feel the need to travel to Northern Spain to be with his son? We asked him. Why? Gianmarco's career suddenly stopped And suddenly, the brash, nervous look of that boy has changed. You see that he's become a man, but you also understand that something is missing. Trust. Continuity. And even a contract for next year.Why does a father leave Italy and his son acknowledge his presence in this way?
"For the past two months," he says, "we've seen him really struggling with the team situation. He feels like he's on the up, he feels like he's been lacking confidence. He feels he is stuck in a narrow alley and wants to free himself, but he still can't do it.Unfortunately, he's had a lot of bad luck over the last two years, and as a result, he's missed almost a year of training. In fact, he's a year behind in his preparation. It was seen here at Return the more he runs the more his performance improvesHe could have done a Grand Tour earlier. I think he posted that photo to thank me."
The heart and fear
To sum up, Gianmarco Garofoli is part of the batch of Milesi, Germani, Piganzoli, Moro and all the 2002s who shared the victories in the youth categories. He spent his first year at DSM Development. Wins at Val d'Aosta, but he doesn't feel comfortable and in his second year as an under 23 he lands at Astana Development, led by Orlando Maini and strongly desired by Giuseppe Martinelli to whom Michele Scarponi had recommended it in unsuspecting times. It's 2022 and the Marche native just has time to leave, when he was diagnosed with myocarditis, for which he has to stay still for a long timeThis is the beginning of the problems.
«It was a period of great apprehension – says Gianluca – and When my wife and I recently heard the news of poor Roganti's death, we looked at each other with tears in our eyes.It was like moving something very hard, because we experienced that situation firsthand. The myocarditis was a huge scare. Fortunately, the illness he suffered was caught in time. The next day we went to the hospital and they found a heart attack.He was caught in time and treated. From then on, it was all darkness, until recovery. We shared all his fears and anxieties with him. Although, as a father, I must admit, in some ways it was even beautiful. At that time he was stuck with his bike, so he didn't know what to do and he dedicated himself to following meHe came to work at the company, we went to the trade show, he came to visit clients. It was also nice, because otherwise this space with his work wouldn't have been possible..."
After the heart, did everything go back to normal?
Not even in your dreams, they just kept happening one after the other. This year too he had bronchitis before the Giro Italia and took two weeks of antibiotics. At the first race, he started having stomach cramps. After tests, it was discovered that there was Helicobacter in progress, so another two weeks of antibiotics. And in the end he wasted a lot of time on causes of this kind.
Things seem to be going better now, so why is he at the Vuelta?
I followed the race on weekends, I was happy that he felt close to me. Of course, the team mentality doesn't help. There's nothing official, but since the Chinese sponsor came in, they rightly want to make a great team and have made him understand that there is no more room for him.
Your son has always had a brash attitude, perhaps the beatings he took have changed him, because he seems much more thoughtful…
In reality, by living with him up close and following him at the races with his mother, we study him. Gianmarco has always been very autonomous and independent, in fact we very often stay asideI remember that as a first-year student he won the regional championship and ordered a shirt with his team's logo on it himself. So much so that the company he'd ordered it from called me to congratulate him. It wasn't often that a 15-year-old kid could fend for himself. In fact, around that time he had an accident and broke his collarbone, and the owner of that company came to the hospital to meet him. It wasn't gascony, it was explosive joy for the results he had achieved.But on the other hand he was always very altruistic.
For example?
We have another son who has Down syndrome. And this has meant that Gianmarco has always kept his feet on the ground and help the weakest people close to him or within the various teams in which he grew upThe turning point came when he went to the DSM, where he grew a lot in every way. Being away from home and friends. Fu one of the first to leave for a I have to team up foreignHe stayed up there for six months, returning only once, and there he matured greatly in every sense.
He won some great races with DSM: how did you feel when he decided to change teams?
Even when it comes to teams, he has always made his own choices. The DSM environment was particular, but he didn't ask me for advice, he simply said at a certain point that he was going to leave.I was also in Holland when he broke the contract. They said they didn't want to go anymore. a rider who couldn't strictly follow their rules and that every time something didn't convince him he asked for explanations. He replied in English that he didn't want to stay a single day longer in the team that he had included him in the Giro di Sicilia group and then removed him from the list without calling him or give him an explanation.
Didn't he ask for advice?
I think he made a good decision. My wife has been very good since he was little at making him independent in his decisions, so we usually go along with it, but try to stay close to him in the most difficult moments.
It has always been known that Michele Scarponi, who has always been a point of reference for Gianmarco, put forward his name at Astana…
Michele had come to his first communion and confirmation. She was picking him up from his house to take him to training. Two days before his accident, they had trained together. Yet knowledge came by chance.
In what way?
I think Gianmarco was still in the youth ranks when we went at Scarponi Day, which Michele organized at the end of the year, with lunch and first a ride from Filottrano to Sirolo, climbing from Numana. That time Gianmarco took off ahead of the group, he must have been 12 years old. Michele followed him and they did the whole climb from Numana to Sirolo together.. That's how they met. When during lunch it was time for the lottery to win the shirts he had put up for grabs, Michele took the microphone and said that the racing suit would not have been drawn, because it would have been given to the best of the dayHe called Gianmarco and gave it to him, and that's how their friendship began. Some time after Michele died, Gianmarco had an accident and broke his collarbone. Martinelli called and he invited us up, because he would take care of it.
Did you know him well?
I had never spoken to him, but he told us that Michele always talked to him about him and said that they should take him. And he had actually told him that when he stopped, he would dedicate himself to cultivating his great potential. It was the job that Michele had set himself for after his career..
Is there any advice you can give him during this difficult time, or, since he's so independent, do you just observe him and say nothing?
The advice we give him is to stay calm, because if there is value, it will come out on its ownIn my opinion, peace of mind always pays off. If someone has to go, they'll definitely go. Otherwise, they'll do something else. And he had to earn everything.I remember the 2019 World Cup, when he was the Italian junior champion and they didn't want to bring him because he was too small. Until my son went to face the coach and gave him an ultimatum: "Tell me what I have to do to take me to the World Cup».
What did he answer him?
Which he would have worn if he had won the Buffoni Trophy.
And he?
He came home and said he would do it. In fact he won the Buffoni, went to the World Championships in Harrogate and placed fifth. Same thing at the junior Italian championship. Before leaving, he said to me, "Dad, I'm going to win today." He left and won. He only spoke to me like that twice, and both times he won. So I am convinced that his tranquility will bring resultsHe seems to be growing, capable of keeping up with the strongest. If he had been able to complete a Grand Tour earlier, perhaps today we would be talking about a different rider. He's 21 years old, it seems strange to me that people talk about him as if he were an old man.His agents tell him he has to score points or it'll be difficult to find a team, but I hope the team comes out on top anyway. Tonight we'll go home together, hoping that the managers will look at the riders for more than just the points they bring in.
