«At the end of the race I was really furious, but then I thought back to everything I went through before crossing that finish line and I finally understood that sometimes it's not the landing that matters, but how you get there.». In a nutshell, Marco Andreaus he summed up his adventure in Romania as best he could Tour of Szeklerland, where he long dreamed of overall success, ultimately finishing sixth. A bittersweet finish that ultimately had a sweet edge.
To understand how he got there (not only to the finish line, but also to the moral conclusion of the story...), we need to start from the beginning and Andreaus willingly lends himself to the story, first of all presenting the Romanian stage race, which featured many teams from Central and Northern Europe at the start, but also three Italian teams, including his own, the CTF.
«It's not a very difficult race, I also did it last year. Compared to then, one stage has been removed, so it was even more accessible for me who doesn't like big climbs. And there were no heavy climbs there, given the conformation of the territory."
How was the race designed?
We started with a 4,5-kilometer time trial, an ideal distance for me, and in fact I won the stage even with significant gaps to my opponents. The second stage was for sprinters, The third was considered the hardest, but in the end the decisive one was the last one. Unfortunately for me…
What kind of climate did you find?
Lots of sun, but the temperatures were more pleasant than when we left Italy, never exceeding 23 degrees. The roads were also very nice and well-kept, almost always paved, and here I found a clear improvement compared to last year. Back then there were other routes and potholes were almost the order of the day…
Did you expect to win on the first day?
Definitely not, because I was coming from almost two months of inactivity. After the Giro Next Gen I contracted Covid and was out of action for a long time. But I really liked that route, and I was also lucky enough to leave last. and so I was able to regulate myself according to my opponents.
After the victory, how did you approach the race?
The team decided to focus on me and so we raced to compete with the others. The second day, however, was a sprint stage and I started to push for the finish. Skerl, who won by beating Ugly messAfter two days of competition, we already had two victories under our belt. On the third day, the Austrian Martin messner he raised hell, but I stayed close to him, finishing behind him at the finish line with still 9” to manage.
What happened in the final stage?
Messner was in good shape and tried to go away, a quintet was formed with him, I tried to join him, but On Sunday, all the inactivity of the previous weeks emerged and on the last climb I paid the price. Moreover, with the chasing group we were gaining ground, but the motorcycles made us take the wrong turn at a roundaboutWe lost a ton of time, and that's when I realized the race was over. I also lost the best young rider's jersey, but I still had the points jersey.
Did you take it so badly?
At first yes, but then thinking about it I thought that as I arrived in Romania I had already done a lot, so I couldn't complain much in the end.
And now?
Now we compete trying to refine the form for the Tour of Friuli. It's certainly not the same thing, the route in general is not for me, but there are interesting stages where I can have my say if I have the right condition.
Overall, how do you rate your season?
Honestly, I expected more, I wanted to get to the victory much sooner., however, the time trial was the first success of the year. In the spring I hadn't even done badly, with 5th place in the Liberation and first a good race at Belvedere, but then I arrived at the Giro without the condition I wanted and it showed in the race.
Among the juniors, another Andreaus is emerging, your brother Elia…
For a first year he's doing more than well. We're very similar in terms of build and characteristics, but he's a little faster than me...
Now what do you expect?
I would like to face the second part of the year with a little more satisfaction, some victories also to deserve the confirmation in the team, where I feel very goodMy leg is getting back to normal, let's try to make it work.
