The lockdown began, Italy was closing down and Matteo Moschetti was still in the small apartment that a friend of Fabrizio Borra had made available to him for rehabilitation from the second accident.
"My son and my wife used to accompany him back and forth," Fabrizio said, "and even to the grocery store. It's a shame." not being able to finish the work because at a certain point he had to go home, but I think that even that little bit allowed him to shorten the recovery."
Of course he allowed it! Il Muskets who has already won four races this year and is fighting at the Giro is son of that workMany riders have passed through his center and many have continued to do so, finding in him the key to even extreme re-education and a friend capable of immense empathyFabrizio had kind eyes, often tired from so much work, with the same flicker of light when he found the best way. And then he became a volcano. A restless intelligence, one of those that make a difference.
Pantani and the swimming pool
The first time was in the old center, the one in the city, on the ground floor of a building with the parking lot behind it. Marco had invited us because we were curious to follow his recoveryWe found him swimming against a rather energetic current, with the grimace he used when he crucified his opponents on the uphill slopes.
Fabrizio Borra, that was the name of his re-educator, we met him on that day at the end of 1995He explained the phases of the work and only after Pantani had finished the session, he welcomed us into his office. Our story with him began that day and has never stopped since.Even when there was talk of offering Marco a last resort, a trip to a remote South American community, he was also sitting at Don Gelmini's table.
Thirty years of calls and meetings. Certainly with a different level of intimacy than the one he managed to establish with his athletes, but always with a presence and a desire to help. Because that's what Fabrizio did: it helped and conveyed the feeling that no result was impossibleHe was a good person: you can't do that job if you're not one.
An absolute precursor
"Are you there?" There wasn't a single speech Fabrizio Borra made, especially when he was explaining a concept related to his profession, that wasn't fragmented by that refrain. He wanted to make sure we understood and on some days the second question was actually necessary.. And the third one too.
He had trained at the American sports school and had brought to Italy the conception of the body as a single system and the use of water for re-education, which initially changed the gameFabrizio never stopped studying, nor rolling up his sleeves. Even when the flood hit his new studio and ruined years of memories and dedication. He started again that time too.
For those of us who lived through Pantani's story, he will always remain a hero. She looked at him. She watched him work hard. And she said, "He can go back to his old self, I have no doubt." He was there when Marco entered Professor Terragnoli's clinic in Ome, in the province of Brescia, and removed the irons from his leg. He had already gotten back on his bike without telling anyone, even with that external fixator.The miracle had already occurred.
«We had already tried putting the exercise bike in water – Borra said one day, laughing – but we gave up because the grease was dirtying the water. Then he swam, but you had to be careful that no water got in.. Once we found the protection filled to the brim, but we didn't tell the doctor anything..."
Bernal's idea
One of the last situations we talked about in depth with him was the Bernal accident. We were certain that if Egan had passed through his hands, the recovery would have been much quicker and more incisive.Instead, Ineos decided to follow the Colombian path and in fact three years passed before Egan was able to return to his level.
«It's not so much a matter of putting it back on the bike sooner or later – said Borra in the interesting interview You can put it on even after 30 days, just make sure it's straight.When you have so many fractures and so many traumas of that type, which also involve internal organs, you have to look at the muscular-functional balance. I don't know how they're working in Colombia, I hope they didn't just look at the bone aspect or the internal medicine aspect, but that they have measured and evaluated the muscular-functional balances. That is, that the muscles have started working correctly again. I think that the Ineos Grenadiers, having created a new model of cycling, should be attentive to this aspect."
How lucky I was to meet you
You may have already read and heard it. Fabrizio Borra is no longer with us, taken by a tumor discovered a year ago.The news fell from above and spread through the cycling world like a tsunami that no one was prepared for. And since Fabrizio wasn't one to call and preferred to stay on the sidelines, only now do many people look at the last unanswered message and understand why.
Dozens of athletes have thanked him and will continue to do so. Champions, personalities, and ordinary people who have lost a role model. We don't know his family directly, like the riders who have remembered him in recent days.But while obviously expressing our closeness, because they, above all, have lost the true point of reference, we hold dear a phrase uttered by his son Daniele.
You taught us loyalty, honesty, and friendship, and you were always there for our family, even when you weren't. We'll take care of Mom and love her the way you taught us to. How lucky I was to have you, Dad.».
How lucky we are, Fabrizio, to have met you on our path.
