In the panorama of the Italian continentals who every day try to deal with the I have to team up and with the pro teams, il Team MBH Bank-Ballan , Biesse-Carrera they are two of the most solid realitiesThe results and the type of programming with which they try to resist the interference of the WorldTour teams speak for themselves.
Gianluca Valoti e Marco Milesi they are two of their technicians and we submitted them the same 14 questions to try to highlight differences and points of contact.
1) To do well in the continental league, is the budget or the quality of the work what matters?
VALOTI: "The budget, then comes the quality of the work. Now they are much more connected than before. Over the last two years we have invested a little more in work, so with the high altitude retreats, the material and everything else, it was necessarily necessary to increase the budget."
MILESI: «To keep up with the devo, you have to invest more in high altitude retreats or in something to improve. Therefore the budget serves mainly this purpose."
2) We're talking about a category close to professionalism: what is the role of the sporting director?
VALOTI: «In today's cycling, the sports director he must put together the puzzle, try to fit all the pieces together, between rider, coach, commitments, and logistics. Obviously, while racing, he remains faithful to his historic role: the same as always."
MILESI: «Nowadays, the sporting director is a synthesis of many aspects. I try to stay close to them like we used to, but rightly so now they have other needs and you have to give it attention. The new figures that have entered in recent years require space so you have to be a connecting figure between all of them and yet having the final say».
3) It was once said that in amateur cycling it's wrong to impose a role on riders: the leader and the domestique. Is this still the case in continental cycling?
VALOTI: «Yes, we continue to manage them the old way. Maybe in certain races where radios are not used and kids can still use their imagination, there are no immutable roles. There is no gregariousness in amateurism, I don't see it."
MILESI: «I try to leave everyone their own possibilities, but all things considered whoever has the best condition always emergesYou don't impose roles that don't change, even if in the end everyone notices that it is often the same people who get results, from Bessega, to Tommaso Dati, as well as Bicelli which is going well."
4) The riders come from the junior ranks and are very well prepared: what do they still have to learn?
VALOTI: «They have an ever-increasing need for a point of reference for when they have negative phases and when the condition does not allow them to achieve results. They are very weak, so in certain cases the sporting director must also act as a psychologistThe first thing we have to teach him is to react when there are negative moments."
MILESI: «We need to make him understand that they have to grow up, become a little more human and more self-awareMany arrive and think they're ready, but first they have to grow mentally. We need to work on this, make them realize they're no longer children. Those who continue with the pretense of having already arrived, disappear even more quickly.».
5) How important is it to speak clearly and not create false illusions?
VALOTI: «If things don't work out, they understand it themselves. Being a continental, when we go to the professional races, they clearly see that they can't get there with the first onesWe don't do WorldTour races, so they realize that at the top there is an even higher level. Let's try to make them think about this too.. So it happens that some people quit or join teams that do regional activities to get by a little longer."
MILESI: «If you hide the evidence or try to paint it differently, you are not doing him any favors. The sporting director must be fair and above all honest also in saying the right things at the right time."
6) Does the push to go professional generate anxiety?
VALOTI: «Yes, because they come and want everything right away. Maybe already as juniors they have professional contracts in their hands and then they think they can skip the stages."
MILESI: «On this aspect I prefer to propose a path of construction to him, especially the younger ones, I don't see them ready for professionalism yet. In my opinion, they're not mature. You can find someone like Finn, and then that's welcome, but they're very rare cases. For everyone else... There is a construction to be done and for me three years are necessary. I realize how stressful it is for them to want to become professionals."
7) What is your relationship with the prosecutors?
VALOTI: «You work well with some people, though since there are the I have to team up we have fewer relationshipsThe agents try to send the boys abroad more than to the Italian continental teams. We were lucky that in 2021 the I have to team up they weren't there yet, otherwise Ayuso and maybe not even Tiberi they wouldn't have come to us and ended up in one of those teamsWe Italians have suffered greatly from this situation, yet we too are capable of valorizing the best."
MILESI: «We have to live with it, because many of the kids we take already have an agent. Before they came to offer you the under 23s, now they offer you the juniors. I honestly try to have a good relationship with everyone, trying to understand how to collaborate. Sometimes it happens that they have a boy they don't want to send to I have to team up, because it's not ready yetAnd then they bring him to us so we can help him mature a little further. Maybe the boy who has to finish school or who isn't ready to leave his environment. I ran a lot in Belgium, but I was an adult and I know what it means to be the foreigner in the team. Not all young people realize this and not all adapt."
8) Do you ever observe and think about devo team structures?
VALOTI: «Since I have been sporting director, Since 2003, I have always watched the biggest teams. So maybe there were amateur teams bigger than us and I always admired and watched them to learn. Let's also look at the work that the VF Group-Bardiani. Furthermore, we have behind us the years in which Stanga and Bevilacqua had the pro team and even then I tried to learn all the details from the higher category».
MILESI: «Honestly, I don't watch them too much. We've had our idea for years and we've been moving forward with that.There's always room for improvement, that's clear, but I don't know how much looking at them and their reality can inspire us to do so."
9) What criteria are used to bring kids to professional races?
VALOTI: "First of all the condition, because you always try to make a good impressionLet's say that in general there are three factors. The condition, precisely. The possibility of seeking an advantage in these races for when we return to the U23s. And thirdly, perhaps the opportunity for a young person to gain experienceWhen I tell them they'll be competing with the professionals, they're happy and more motivated."
MILESI: «We usually send those who are most ready, the most experiencedI'll sign the youngster towards the end of the season, to boost his morale and help him understand the world of the big boys. Then there are exceptions. They recently called us to Reggio Calabria, but it coincided with San Vendemiano and the classics here, so I signed up whoever was there. But usually I send the more mature ones and let the younger ones gain experience».
10) Are first-year talents involved in this conversation?
VALOTI: «When the three previous conditions are met, no exceptions are made».
MILESI: «The first years must be respected. I have had many very strong ones, I think of Rota and Svrcek, but I never threw them into the mix right awayThe young person must complete his or her own path and then, from mid-year onwards, we can think about having him or her gain some higher level experience."
11) Instead, how do you employ the fourth year U23 players who still need to show their skills?
VALOTI: «We're looking for results. It is always hoped that the result will allow him to get a professional contract., so we also try to give him some experience. Sometimes even a result or a placing in a professional race gives him something extra. Watch Sergio MerisHe won in the amateurs, then he placed with the professionals and the Unibet-Tietema he wanted it."
MILESI: «As he also said Augustine in the interview you did with him, in the fourth they must not look anyone in the faceIt's all in or out, that's why fourth-years are usually our leaders. Whether we take them on purpose or as a Arrighetti who grew up with us. When I go for a run with two or three fourth-graders, they're the ones who do the running. They are more aware than others of what they have to do. They have a program designed specifically for this."
12) Is having been a rider still an advantage or has it been too long since you stopped?
VALOTI: «It's been a bit too long! I notice it observing Martinelli, which is more technologically up to date. But perhaps he lacks the experience to grasp small organizational and tactical details that jump out at me."
MILESI: «It helps me with certain aspects of the race. Understanding how other teams move and being able to manage my own. But when it comes to talking to the kids, who now put tests and wattages at the centre of everything, then I'll stop talking as a former rider and try to correct my aim.In this case, professional experience counts for 50 percent and the rest you have to add in the updating."
13) Until a couple of years ago it was difficult for a continental team to be accepted into pro races: is this changing?
VALOTI: «The situation has changed a bit. Thanks to the continental races, the organizers have a good number of starters, but it always depends on the race, the organizer, and obviously the team. The division remains higher than that of the other teams. They respect us, and we tell our guys to respect professional riders. But when you try to move forward to aim for the climb, there is a bit of… racism, let's call it that.They see you as a continental team and would like us to stay where we are. It happens between the professional and the WorldTour, even more so with us."
MILESI: «To maintain your position among the professionals, you have to fight. It's hard to fight them, because they are more organized than us and often even stronger.It's hard to hold onto the group's positions, and it's certainly one thing to take the climb in the top 10, but another to take it in fiftieth place. It's not bullying, it's experienceProfessionals know how to move, we still have to learn. I did that job too, I kept my capital in front and we didn't let anyone inOn the other hand, I see that things are going much better with the organizers. I've had many invitations, even in RCS races, but obviously that's not the case for everyone. Even Valoti has no problem with his team. They see how you move, your image, your structure. It's the whole thing that makes the difference».
14) Valoti-Milesi: What do you think of your colleague's way of working?
VALOTI: «I like how they work, because they started from scratch and created a beautiful structureThey work well, they are one of the best organised teams."
MILESI: «They have always worked well, with an important history behind them. They have a prestigious nameThey're well-known, and since they made the Continental, they've been the benchmark. Are we friends/enemies, can you say that?
