There are so many moments that are accompanying Elena Cecchini towards the farewell step at the end of the seasonSome make her smile, making her feel like an athlete who still has plenty of appointments, but more… older – or more experienced, if you prefer – than she actually is.
"I was in Rome," the Friulian athlete from SD Worx Protime and the Fiamme Azzurre tells us amusedly over the phone while waiting at the airport, "to undergo the standard medical checks for the Mediterranean Games, as is the case for all the girls on the long pre-selected list. I was in a room with athletes from other disciplines, and I could hear their birth dates. At one point, a doctor asks me how long I've been playing sports. I reply, "28 years," practically longer than those same athletes.. And there you understand that you are no longer young, that time has flown by."
Leap into the past
Other moments, however, move Elena to her core. Rewinding the tape 28 years means going back to 1998 when she started racing bikes., in an epic and unrepeatable year for Italian cycling at the hands of that great artist that was Marco Pantani.
At the last Italian championship played in Pordenone, the organizers of the Libertas Ceresetto They reserved an unscheduled event for Cecchini through a dive into the past (in the opening photo Andrea Nicodemo together with Andrea Cecchini on his right and Cordiano Dagnoni on his left).
«At the end of the race – she explains – I went up on stage and Cordiano (Dagnoni, the FCI president, ed.) told me to be ready to get excited. I'm usually easily moved by tears, but having been running for many years and being used to many situations, I no longer try not to get too emotional.I didn't catch a cold, but I just learned to manage these circumstances better. So even during this Italian championship held on my home roads, I didn't want to get emotional.
«But no, Cordiano was right – Elena continues reliving those moments – I was moved when they gave me my first bike as a gift when I was very young.I had a vague memory of the frame's colors and often talked to my father, who was both the coach and the manager at the time. Now my uncle Andrea is the president of Libertas Ceresetto, a club with a great project and who recently took second place in the Italian women's junior championship. I don't take credit for their growth, but I feel honoured to be considered a point of reference for their young people.».
A blink of an eye
Elena mentioned right away that time flies, but memory forgets nothing if you have made that time your own and inhabited that space.
"Running at home," he continues, "I wanted to do better in the race. There were a lot of people there, and it's normal for a lot of thoughts to come to mind. Then when I saw that little bicycle I remembered perfectly as if it were yesterday my first training session on the cycle path in MartignaccoAnd I also thought about my first year as a very young girl because every Sunday my parents took both me and my brother running, who, being five years older, ran in the G6.
"From the following year," Cecchini continues, "my mother accompanied me and my father, and my brother, who had just made it as a rookie. And when I think back on those years, I realize that my career was moving quickly. From the age of 24/25, I have to say it's a real sprint. The final seasons are planned as early as December and you go by objectives. So you don't enjoy the moment, you don't enjoy today like you did up until ten years ago."
The same little girl from back then
We know Cecchini well as an athlete now. A team player who first achieved personal success and then dedicated herself to serving her teammates. A girl who, off the bike, can leave behind a great communication skill that today's young women should immediately grasp even before they know how to win or be a great professional.But what was that little girl riding the blue bike like? How much has Elena changed since then, if at all?
«As a child – reveals – I always got angry when I didn't win because I'm basically a pessimist and I tended to always want more from myself.Just like now, I think I'm still the same Elena I was when I was six. As I grew up, I learned to see the glass half full, but even as a child, I always thought that cycling wasn't my only plan in life. Maybe that's why I also think my career has developed gradually, looking forward little by little..
«Now – Elena underlines – I am very determined about my choice to retire, I'm living it well. In fact, I have to say that continuing to talk about it helped me to metabolise this decision. When I stop running, I'll want to enjoy more of the many things I've put aside over the years. For example, looking at a photo of myself as a young girl, I'll start looking for the pink tape for my bike handlebars.
Tour Femmes on the horizon
Before ending her career, Cecchini has many important races to prepare for, starting with the Tour de France Femmes, scheduled for August 1st to 9th, which smells like revenge.
«With the team – concludes Elena – We will leave in these days for the high altitude retreat in Livigno where we will remain until July 21st. Personally, precisely because of what I was saying before, I took it badly. the end of the Giro Women's cycling, while Anna (Van der Breggen, ed.) she took it well because she is unique in these things. I was in the room with her and I think that the crash in the seventh stage affected her a lot in the last two days..
"It would have been wonderful," he emphasized, "if Anna had won, but the podium is an excellent result that we had hoped for on the eve. After Wiebes' unfair exclusion, we finished the Giro Women's cycling the five of us managing ourselves as best we could and with Baby (Barbara Guarischi, ed.) who finished all bandaged up like a superhero. Our group, however, made the difference as always and in France it will be our strength.».
