The European track event Anadia also served to re-present herself at the top Federica Venturelli. Of which the traces had been somewhat lost. Considered – and not only in cycling – one of the main Italian prospects for the future, with one eye already set on Los Angeles 2028, the Cremonese, ever since she moved up a category after a junior career where everything she touched turned to gold, has gone through a sensational series of misadventures that have effectively made this year and a half almost an ordeal.
This year the Lombard of I have to team up of UAE He completed just 10 days of road racing, starting practically at the end of May. Little by little the condition is returning, for an athlete who, also in anticipation of the Portuguese event, in the last month has worked mainly on the trackThe continental title in the individual pursuit, and indeed we could say the entire Portuguese trip, is a bit of a reflection of the concentrated bad luck that the Lombardy native carries with her.
«The thing I hear most? “Why don't you take a trip to Lourdes?” The funny thing is that I also did it, in June at the Tour du Pyrenées we arrived right near the Sanctuary, but apparently it didn't work very well…».
Did you pay your dues in Anadia too?
Yes, because I didn't even have time to win the gold medal in the pursuit when I got sick and so I had to give up the omnium and any other raceI was hoping the gold medal would put an end to this long period, but perhaps there are still some remnants...
Let's start with the good things that have happened...
I started working seriously for the European Championships in mid-June, after the trip to France, but I started from the very basics. In Montichiari I gradually realised that I was getting better and better, that my condition was arriving So much so that in the last two weeks I was running much better times than I had at the beginning, and even than in many periods in the past. But there were still unknowns, especially since it was my first 4K race.
Were you afraid when you left for Anadia?
The competition is always something different, and the team event didn't go well. So I can say that the final result, beyond the gold medal, gave me a lot of confidence. In qualifying I started off too strong as usual, then Villa called me to calm down and I got back on the table, finishing with the time we had predicted with over 6” of advantage over the second place.
And in the final?
The final is something different, time has little importance because you're racing against your opponent. In fact, at a certain point I started to see the British... Lister In front of me, Villa urged me to go and get it, which I did with two laps to go. It was my first 4km test, and the projections said I was at least 3” faster than my qualifying time.
You mentioned the team pursuit…
Honestly, it was a bad moment, but not because of the result. On the day of qualifying we had Anita Baima who had fallen in the elimination and was all sore but could not be replaced. Despite this we finished third, so still in contention for a medal. The next day there was the challenge against Germany, but we received the news about Samuele (Private, editor's note). Victoria Grassi, his girlfriend, he was really not able to run but we also did not have our minds on the race even if we would have liked to honor his memory with a great performanceTwo of us fell in the race, we weren't even classified.
And now? We'll be out of the track until October, so you can finally focus on the road...
I haven't seen much road so far, but at this point I'm confident. Precisely because the track is an excellent training ground for getting back into shape and getting used to changes in pace. It certainly wasn't a waste of time, even the team is happy with what I've done, now I still have three weeks of work because there are no races at the same time as the Tour.Then a nice series of commitments will begin, a nice block with which I hope to make up for lost time, both in terms of number of tests and results.
Are you also thinking about the blue jersey?
Honestly, no, but not only because the European and World Championships have tough courses. At the moment I don't set any goals, I simply look at the opportunities given to me., wherever I run I want to do well, in any situation because I'm too hungry for competition.
Looking back, what do you remember from these two seasons?
Just look at the total number of days of competition, 34 in two years. Nothing. It's a bit disappointing, I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity afforded by the team, but I can say that I still learned a lot, that I'm no longer the Federica I was two years ago. I couldn't help but be faced with that load of bad luck, now I can only look to the future.
