MARCEDDI' – The old lady says there used to be everything here. Her mother made bread, and there was even a dance hall. Now there is nothing except fishermen, a lagoon, a couple of bars and the feeling of being on the edge of a leap.Like when you look out over Lisbon and from there you can feel the emptiness of the Atlantic. An hour before the riders start turning, she gets up and walks away slowly. She says she'll be 90 on December 30th and everything the work of Flanders Classics for the staging of the World Cup he was very impressedThe course test begins at 14 pm, with the riders encountering coarse sand and the many puddles left by the rain of the past few days.
Michael Vanthourehout pushes from the first laps and maybe he remembers when won the Italian Cup race on the Vermiglio snowThe picture today is diametrically opposite, the air is mild, but when the clouds cover the sun, jackets are zipped up. The exception is the riders, who stop to wash their bikes and take the opportunity to also have their shoe covers rinsed.The sand isn't the kind found on northern beaches; it's more like the stony sand found on construction sites, and the noise of the disc brakes after just one ride makes you think the bikes will be returning home in a bad state.
"We'll have a lot of bikes to throw away," Luca Bramati mutters, catching our gaze. Then, when his girls stop at the barrier, the man from Bergamo approaches and asks how the tire pressure is goingFor now, the decision is to inflate to 1,2 bar front and rear: we'll see tomorrow morning if the night has compacted the sand and if something will need to be changed.
The Mystery of Vito
In the middle of his team's pits there is also Alessandro Guerciotti, accompanied to Marceddì by his father Paolo. Let us explain how the approval of the new Vito because of which Giorgia Pellizotti was disqualified from the European Championships and we finally understand what was wrong. The bike dedicated to Di Tano has staggered rear stays and the one that joined the uppermost frame was outside the quadrilateral in which everything must be included.
«Fortunately the monocoque part – says Alessandro – is the main triangle. The rear end is wrapped, so we changed the measurements and sent the new frames to the UCI for approval.If it had all been monocoque, we would have had a problem. Luckily, we have plenty of bikes,” he adds, smiling, “and we managed to get everyone racing. I'm happy with how the team is doing and the absence of some big names means that our girls will be able to compete at the highest level and on a non-extreme course, putting themselves to the test."
The Bully's Grit
One who is giving it his all and has never stopped is Gioele Bertolini. His tricolor jersey with the ALE Colnago writing is getting covered in dirt, as he revs out of the curves and floats over the course's copious puddles. Even when the sun begins to set, he still spins, like Filippo Agostinacchio showed up at the last minute and arrived in Sardinia in the morning on the Guerciotti flight. So when Bertolini stops at the end of the two-hour test, we approach him, intrigued. More than a test run, his was a real workout.
"Let's say that I changed my Saturday format a bit – he explains – I like to try the route in a more brilliant way. I've tried some points where I'm sure the difference will be made, but I'm sure that Tomorrow the route will change again and so the decisive test will be the one before the raceThere is certainly a lot of water and in some places you can't see underneath, so You must always remain vigilant because the front wheel can slip and a fall can be fatal. Instead, it's important to take the sandy sections at the right speed, immediately taking the channels to continue in the right direction. If you make a mistake at the beginning, you lose a lot of pace and pay a lot of seconds. Given the rain, we thought it would compact more, this is how the channels are created and it is important to be quick otherwise you risk getting stuck».
The choice of field
Marceddì is a small village in the middle of nowhere, in a silence of nature that this morning, when everything was still, suggested breathe slowly so as not to disturb the peace of the seagulls and the lapping of the sea. We debated for a long time whether it was worth choosing such distant locations or whether it wasn't worth trying – even if we wanted to run in Sardinia anyway. a route to Oristano which is nearby or directly to Cagliari. Don't they do the same in Benidorm, filling the city parks with fans, passers-by, and ordinary tourists?
"But the World Cup in Italy," says Bertolini, "is always a pleasure. We try to give our best and As far as I'm concerned I'll be happy if I can make a top 15It's my first World Cup race, I don't have the measurements of the Belgians and Dutch yet, so tomorrow I'll find out my true international standing this year and then hopefully I can continue to improve."
Mechanics blow atomized air onto frames and mechanical parts. This sand scratches deeply, says one of them, you have to work carefully.. For this reason, some people send away the bulk of the dirt, but reserve the right to finish the job at the hotel. The afternoon is drawing to a close, the sun is setting over the sea. Tomorrow morning the silence of Marceddì will be filled by the clatter of wheels and brakes in the two World Cup races.
