ZURICH (Switzerland) – Giada Silo's race ended after crossing the finish line, despite the cramps that blocked both her legs 100 meters from the finish line and caused her to fall badly. The girl from Breganze Millenium is stubborn, in her first year in the junior category and the protagonist of a top-class race. After a few minutes, she gets up, speaks with the staff on the side of the road, and slowly sets off again. At the end, the finishing order reads 58th place, 7 minutes and 25 seconds behind the winner. Cat Ferguson. But Giada Silo's performance isn't just about numbers, but rather her strength and desire to give that little bit more.
The city's disappointment
The world championship podium takes shape about twenty kilometers from the finish line, a few meters from the top of the Witikon climb, on the final circuit. Giada Silo was trailing Cat Ferguson, Paula Ostiz and Viktória ChladonováA huge effort, begun when the race was still far from taking shape. The English riders began to shape the group to their liking, with attacks and counterattacks. The blue one has always followed, at every momentPaolo Sangalli had talked about it with Giada on the bus during the warm-up.
"The girls," she said after arriving, "did what we'd agreed upon before leaving, and the race went exactly as we'd planned. We were there, Giada Silo is a first-year rider, she had an exceptional race, she just missed those 30 seconds on the climbBut it's okay for a girl who's just starting out, so I'm really happy. What I'm most disappointed about is the lack of placement; she would have finished sixth at least. He was there and he was playing the whole sprint, he deserved it. But the important thing is that she didn't get hurt."
A breath
To limit this race to numbers would be a shame and a lack of respect for the effort and commitment put in by the girls of Sangalli. They all did their part and took charge of the race's progress. being in the right place at the right time.
"It wasn't just Silo who deserved the placing," he continues, "but the whole team. They ran really well, they were giants. We know Ferguson, she has already won with the elite, they were good at not being afraidI say they all deserved it because their commitment was unmatched, but racing is like that. Something happened that I don't remember from memory, so let's really take the positive because they had a great race, moving as a team. The goal is to run like the big ones, like our elite, and they did it. These girls are clearly here to seek the maximum result, but also to grow. Cycling does not end in the junior category but beginsIt's an experience that will be useful when they first move up to the under and then to the elite."
The Pride of Silo
Giada Silo gets off the blue bus with tears still streaming down her face and filling her eyes. It's not easy to digest such a disappointment, but As soon as he sits down to talk to us he finds his breath and the strength to tell us what he has doneCompliments are in abundance, after all the performance really left a pleasant memory.
«Let's start with the good stuff – he tells us – for me it was a wonderful experience. I didn't think I'd get the wheels of a stronger girl (the reference is to Cat Ferguson, ed.) and I'm quite surprised at myself. But unfortunately, what happened happened and that's how it went. In the last two kilometers, it was me and the Frenchwoman Gery who kept checking each other for fifth place. As soon as she started, I stood up on the pedals, but at that moment I got cramps in all my legs and they blocked.That's why I fell."
The confirmation
What emerges next is pride and the awareness of having the right qualities to direct growth towards great goals. Today we lost a race, however painful, but as coach Sangalli said, the journey begins nowThose thirty seconds left are the starting point.
"The race was on Ferguson," Silo concludes. "At first, I managed to keep up with her. Towards the last climb, the longest one, I started to feel cramps and couldn't keep up with her pace all the way to the top. In those few meters I understood that Ferguson is not one step ahead, but three more than me. I have a long way to go to reach her level, but I'm satisfied, I understood that my name is there and I can do well».
Giada Silo boards the national team van, heading home. She'll pack disappointment and regret in her suitcase, but we know she'll leave them at the bottom. Above, there's room for pride and the desire to bounce back.
