As soon as you finish speaking with Alessia Missiaggia, you go back and look at her profile and it seems truly incredible that you've just spoken to a 23-year-old girl, such is her maturity but above all her sporting experience. She is very young, yet she has a history that seems very long behind her.. An original story too because there are no female road cyclists in the world who can boast a world title in downhill, the most daring discipline of mountain biking.
Alessia comes from that world, but she is not a novice on the road. She had started right there, then she had been struck by the charm of downhill, that concentration of adrenaline in just a few minutes where you risk everything and have to bare all your courage. With that hint of recklessness typical of adolescence, the Bolzano native threw herself into it and quickly demonstrated she had talent to spare.
The arrival from a parallel dimension
So much talent that he won the junior world title and wore the rainbow jersey that had been missing from Italy for many years. It was September 11, 2016, at 17 years old Alessia was on top of the world. Now, when he talks about it, it seems like very distant times, from another era: «I don't deny my past, of course, and I know it may seem strange to be here coming almost from a parallel dimensionI never thought I'd end up racing among the elite on the road, but here I am."
Tell us about this sensational journey…
Up until the junior category everything had gone well, I continued to get podiums in the World Cup and victories in the European Cup, I had landed in a big multinational team like GT. Even in downhill, as on the road, there is no middle category between juniors and elites and the transition from one category to another is difficult. I kept improving, though, and even won the European Cup among the biggest teams. I'd started the 2020 season well, too, then Covid hit and something broke...
What happened?
All races had been cancelled and postponed at least from September onwards. But that lack of competitive stimuli exposed my crisis: I didn't feel like taking risks anymore, something had clicked in my head.I no longer had any interest or motivation, while on the other hand, the call of road cycling was starting to make itself felt again, and I was training with more pleasure. I found a team that believed in me, my parents are fully committed, and they are there for me. A second sporting life had begun.
You came from a great team. Was it a step backwards financially?
I didn't lose much. You have to understand that in mountain biking the organization is much less. I was part of a multinational company, but I had to manage myself, organize my trips, and take care of practically everything. On the road, it's not like that; the team's support is real and complete, even if the Team Mendelspeck It's not a WorldTour team and it doesn't have a huge budget. Considering all this, I can guarantee that I would not have stayed even if GT had guaranteed me a very high salary..
What did you take away from that experience?
Now I can say that I wouldn't feel like throwing myself into it like I did before, but I can't deny that a little piece of my heart remains there. Saturday, just finished the stage of the Tour of Tuscany, I connected with my smartphone and while I was eating in the van I watched the World Championships in Les Gets again.
We're talking about the Giro di Toscana, where we finally began to see some of Missiaggia's road racing talent, with a 15th place in one stage…
I knew from the beginning that it would take time to get there, I started practically from scratch. Every outing, every race teaches me something, they give me something extra, but compared to those who have been running for many years I naturally have a handicap to make up. That small result was very important for me, a push to keep going, but it was also very important to participate in the Tour of Italy, breakaway on the third stage. I see I'm growing, little by little.
On the road, who is Alessia Missiaggia?
A girl who still has to get to know herself. I'm under construction, I move well in a group, I'm quite fast and I'm not afraid in a sprint, I often try to break awayI'm struggling on the uphills for now, but I hope to improve there too.
When you're going downhill, do you relive old sensations?
It's certainly not the same, but what I learned downhill is useful, especially in riding and keeping an eye on things. I can often make up for what I might have lost while climbing.
What is your dream about the road?
I would like to participate in the Paris-Roubaix, It has always fascinated me and the fact that it can now be opened up to women is great. Let's say that racing on the cobblestones, for someone like me who comes from off-road, would be like closing a circle.
