Olivano Locatelli is back on the team car. The team is called Onec Cycling and is based in Parma. Salvatore Commesso, his amateur pupil, sometimes rides with him. Locatelli has lived events that in terms of quality and quantity would be enough for three lifetimes.In a headline from many years ago, we called him “The Amateur Sorcerer.” It hasn't always been a bed of roses. His methods have often been questioned and have led to investigations and dismissals. Several riders have pointed the finger, while others continue to thank him., but no one can deny that his experience is something rare. For this reason and knowing his technical convictions well, we made with him a snapshot of today's amateurism (in the image photors.it in the opening, the Bergamo native is with Aru at the Val d'Aosta in 2012).
Some of his statements will make the chair uncomfortable. But perhaps this time it is worth accepting the uncomfortable position, reasoning on the individual points without rejecting them a priori. and ask yourself whether it's worth accepting everything as it comes or whether it might not be worth asking for some changes.
It took you a while to answer…
I had left my phone at home, I was pruning the treesMy father taught me that. I have olive trees, but this time I pruned four birch trees. Earlier last week, I was in Norway visiting my daughter in Stavanger.
Kristoff's city…
Really? I didn't know that.
What do you think of this amateur cycling?
I don't want to criticize, Vicennati, but we saw the beautiful cycling. The Olympic blockade was not a damage, on the contrary (the ban on amateurs turning professional from the pre-Olympic year, which remained in force until 1992, ed.). He filled the tank and the level rose, because the best competed with each otherPlus, there were foreigners who helped us. The riders stayed among the amateurs more, not like now. I'm talking about Belli, Casartelli, Bartoli, and Pantani. I look Well I live, who spent three years with me and the fourth at Zalf, and is still there.
Today, whoever can, come right away.
I don't feel like condemning them. Last year I read a graduate thesis that argued that today's males have one-fifth as many sperm as those of 40 years ago. Men need to work to produce testosterone. Before, as a child, they gave you a bucket and spade; now they give you a cell phone.Let me give you another example. Until 10 years ago, I would talk to the riders' fathers; now the mothers come. And every now and then, I'll crack a joke. “You are creators of males you would never marry,” I tell him.After a while, you know, they agree with me? But it's not the kids' fault, I want that to be clear.
And whose is it?
About ten days ago in Castiglion Fiorentino, a sports director said that there were no more riders. I answered him out loud that there are no longer any directors with the attributes (that's not exactly the word used, ed.) and all the kids around started laughing.
What should sporting directors do?
Stop relying solely on watt tests, which aren't accurate for everyone. If we had relied on those, Pozzovivo, Gotti and Aru would have stopped immediatelyThey had about 260, but they also had red fiber which matures more slowly. If you do these tests on students looking for the highest numbers, you will surely find cyclists and sprinters, those with white fibresThe others, who need more time to mature, you don't even look at. And you lose them. I remember well when the president of my club said I didn't understand much about cycling and to stop Aru in his first year, because he was worthless. We have riders, but we have made them accelerate too much in the brain.
In what sense?
You hear them talking about how if they don't have an agent they won't get through. A dynamic has been triggered from which there is no turning back.. Everything and now.
Is it irreversible?
La Federation Will he have the courage to block everything? Ten years ago, one evening at dinner with Di Rocco (outgoing president of the FCI, ed.), he told me that he was holding on, but that The UCI wants to reduce the number of races and teams in Italy. If anything, encouraging the creation of a WorldTour team and a maximum of 250 riders. It's been like this for 7-8 years, and it's not the kids' fault..
You mentioned sporting directors.
I once ran into Fabrizio Turkey (FCI training manager, ed.) in one of his refresher courses. I was saying that watts aren't real at 18 and that everything couldn't be reduced to that. A discussion ensued after which we remained silent for a long time.. Until two years later, he saw me and said he wanted to tell me something. I thought he wanted to go back to that topic, but instead he asked me if in the course that was about to begin, he could use my wordsI asked him which ones…
And he?
He told me he was impressed by my I advise against evaluating riders indoors within four walls, that the riding position in January is different from that of July and September and well... my arguments. He especially liked my expression on the fact that to be a technician you need… the eyemeter.
Not everyone knows how to judge riders by looking at them.
Indeed the riders realize this and end up in the arms of those who do the tests. Pay attention, I was among the first to do them at the University of Turin, but they weren't the only ones. Add to that that... Today's sports directors were riders a few years ago, they are used to that system, without seeing the need to change itWe should start again with the riders, aware that we have been emptying our tank for years.
What should the FCI do?
Take certain people, send them out to spot talent and then find ways to retain it, so that they mature in the time it takes. I have a list of over 20 riders stopped at 24 after having started at 20.
Can you go back to the discussion of red and white fibers for a moment?
Take Ciccone, who was with me then left. They didn't understand that he wasn't someone to be thrown away in the classics, but to be gradually developed in the stage races.Take Aru. I told him he had red fibers, that he had to be patient and he would get there. He listened, and in his third year he started to get results. I'd like to help find stage race riders, the ones we're missing. There are many who should wait, but if you suggest it to them, they look at you like you're crazy., with all this talk going on. Then we need to find a team that invests and convinces them to respect their deadlines, freeing them from many conditioning factors.
What you mean?
Paying out of my own pocket, I sent four guys to six different biomechanics. Well, they came back with 24 different positions.Shouldn't geometry be an exact science? This also affects them. Sometimes I meet up with my exes and we talk. Over the years, you understand. And so... Speaking to Gotti, I told him that we had gotten certain training sessions all wrong. He replied that he believed in them and therefore it was fine.But if you get rid of some of these figures, who do you hand them over to?
What do you think about the role of prosecutors?
Have their responsibilities, as well as those of the children's parents. Unfortunately, young riders are a business, with teams that have let dozens of them pass and stop over the years. I don't condemn anyone, it's the system that is like that.But trust me, we saw the best cycling many years ago.
