Every Sunday a commitment around Italy, every Sunday a conglomeration of emotions like he was not even given to experience when he was racing among the pros. Nicola's Weekends Loda They have always lived on a razor's edge, fearing for their children. Il Team Piton is facing the long cyclocross season with 7 kids, including beginners and students, who give so much passion on every occasion.
But how much does it cost to run such a company, and what does it entail? Loda willingly submitted to an examination of his team's operations as a true example of what it means to run a team in cycling today. Expenses that hit the wallet, but also commitments that concern a large number of people.
In his analysis, Loda starts from a necessary premise: «Our business has changed over the past year. Last season was still dominated by the pandemic, there were far fewer races for the youth categories, and when they did arise, we had to compete, even at the cost of long journeys. For example, last season we followed the calendar almost continuously. Tour of Italy, this year instead we have favoured closer but more frequent trips, always of a high level, mainly following the calendar of the Mastercross and the national tests of Lombardy and Emilia".
How did you structure your season from an economic point of view?
At the beginning of the year our president Paolo Zanesi he does his sums and sets aside a budget that we can quantify, in figures, between 21 and 24 thousand euros, but we must consider that each athlete has two bikes at his disposal, one for racing and one for training, then all the accessories and clothing which are supplied directly by PitonThe figure mainly includes all business trips.
Let's try to divide them...
When we leave, there are three vehicles: two vans where we travel with the 7 guys and the big van that carries all the bikes, because each athlete needs to have a spare bike., so training bikes are used in races, especially if it's muddy, and you have to change them after each lap to wash the bike you've left. There are always at least five parents who come on every trip. When the locations are close together, it's quite simple: you leave very early in the morning and return the same day. Otherwise, you also have to pay for a hotel, and even if you try to save, it's still that 60-70 euros per person that's important to consider. Then there's food, so all things considered, it's easy to reach those figures in a four-month activity.
In your analysis you didn't take into account the presence of mechanics and the like...
Because we do it ourselves: we're all experienced enough to handle even the smallest tasks, such as gear and saddle adjustments, tire inflation, and so on. Every week, the bikes are then taken to Piton's headquarters for a tune-up. Another guy and I do the masters race in the morning, then we make ourselves available to the guys: some to change bikes, some to wash them, some to prepare supplies…
When does your work start?
Surely when we leave in the morning we have to arrive much earlier. First you have to set up the gazebo and connect the generator, connect the gas cylinder, take the bikes down and put them away. There's so much to do before a race. We always say that as soon as you arrive, you have to "put on the circus"... It's hard work, but it's also a lot of fun.
How did the season start?
Great, the boys are giving us great satisfaction. We have two newcomers like Anna Good luck, former Italian road champion and Carlotta Longhi, also among the best in Italy. They are new to cyclocross but each time they get better and learn. Then we have two first-year students, Elisa White and Nicole Arzetti Both come from mountain biking, where they won an Italian title last summer. Finally, three second-year students: Francesco Baruzzi who is always among the first, Massimo Salvodini who also comes from mountain biking and Luca Zaina, the son of Enrico, my companion in adventures on the road for many years, and of Nadia De Negri, rider-up in MTB in 1997.
How do you feel about coaching Zaina's son?
I must say first of all that Both Enrico and Nadia leave it up to me, I'm not one of those parents who put their mouths on the line, in fact Luca practically calls me every two days to report on what has been done.A few days ago I made him buy a barbell so he could do some muscle-building exercises. Enrico says, "Hey, you made me spend all that money..." "Enrico, don't you remember when we used to train at the gym? Tell him what exercises to do." "No, you're the coach, you do it..." Luca is very keen on this, also because he wants to rid himself of this reputation as a "born child of a sportsman" that the speakers give him every time he competes. The responsibility of his last name weighs on him, but he's slowly coming out of it, and he's getting better all the time.
Sponsor costs
So far Praise, but to find out more about the expenses of a team we also contacted Sara Pitozzi, CEO of Piton: «If we also include our expenses we reach 50 thousand euros and this is a minimum basis for doing business.Many would like to start a team, but I always say that if you don't have at least a similar amount of money as a base, it's better not to even try.
The riders are provided with two bikes, one carbon with Shimano GRX for racing and one aluminum with SRAM for training. Maintenance is entirely our responsibility. The relationship began 6 years ago and all things considered the satisfaction we are bringing home, not only in terms of results, amply repays the investment".
