It's also time for the women's track world championships in Santiago, Chile. While for the men's sector Salvoldi leaves without great prospects linked to the results, the opposite is the case for girls, because Diego Bragato will have almost all the best in the sector at its disposal. So the expectations are very different, even if there are some points of contact between the two sexes, even at the experimental level..
The Italian coach, in his first year at the helm of the girls (but with the unfailing support of Marco Villa, also ready to take over since Bragato's wife is pregnant) has very clear ideas about the expedition, which he cares about also thinking about Los Angeles '28.
"It's true," Diego explains, "that these World Championships don't count toward Olympic qualification, but they give us the points that will allow us to compete in the World Cup trials next year and the next World Championships, allowing us to begin qualifying. So they have a relative value but not too much, that's why it's important to be there and it's important to do wellWe're taking it as a bit of a restart because we haven't asked the girls to have any super commitments this year. We had the European Championships at the start of the season and then we scheduled the second appointment at the end of the year for the World Championships."
Have you had the chance to work with them?
We saw each other often on the track. And, I must say, I liked them because they asked to be there and to work, so we left them free, but they never gave up, proving that they careThey participated in international competitions, Pordenone, Fiorenzuola, then we did the competitions in Aigle, in Ghent. It's a restart for an important cycle, but I'm confident that we're going with a group that can do well.
The prospects are a bit different than those for the men's group. Salvoldi will bring a lot of young riders to this event. You, on the other hand, will be starting with the core of the national team... How are they approaching this event, given that they've shown signs of struggling a bit in recent road races?
It's true that we're going with the core group, but it will be an opportunity to bring the group together and reintroduce Venturelli which is an important pawn for us. We had to do it at the European Championships, but due to injuries we were unable to work well for the quartet, While here we want to start integrating her into the group for the team event as well. So for us it will be an opportunity to see her in the quartet as well. I won't deny that there have been ups and downs on the road, also due to several injuries.
Does that worry you?
Not so much, but I have to consider how we get to this World Cup. The same Alzini She won, but she had to recover from a series of injuries, so it was a somewhat unusual year for her, as for others. But they're not doing badly. At the last European Championships Guazzini and Venturelli did well: Federica won, Guazzini made an important contribution to the relay team. And also Martina Fidanza I've seen it well these days, so I'm quite confident, we can go and do well and reconfirm ourselves among the top four in the world which is our place, in relation to the team pursuit.
With Venturelli's arrival, how much has the quartet changed technically?
A lot because it becomes a third or fourth role that actually has a lot of impact, it also allows us to turn the tables a bit and move the other girls into different positions. We won't have Elisa Balsam at the world cup, We had agreed on it with her and that doesn't mean she doesn't care. In fact, she recently even participated in an international competition in Aigle. precisely to get the points she'll need for the World Cup, and so Venturelli will most likely replace her. I'll try to include her without having to change the dynamics much for now.
As for the Madison, will you reconfirm the Olympic pair?
That's the idea, because they're girls who are growing and believe in themselves, and therefore want to keep trying. The intention with Marco Villa is precisely to reconfirm that pairing.
What kind of World Championships do you expect, also in terms of travel and the type of velodrome?
I don't know the track, so it'll be a bit of a discovery for me. The girls are used to changing time zones and traveling around the world, so I don't think it'll be a big problem to arrive and adapt. We'll see what happens, but we're all pretty used to it. Let's start with clear ideas, let's go there calmly and concentrate on what we have to do without too many distractions., because we are a team that must become solid even in our approach to important matches.
You mentioned Venturelli, but who else are you considering joining the group who could be useful already in this four-year period?
The group of girls who were in Paris is young, and we'll work on that with the addition of Venturelli, who also worked with the girls during that period. This year, we've made an effort to expand the roster of athletes, starting with the under-23s, but not only, who can support us in the project and even, why not, provide a replacement for it. We also have girls who want to come back, like Vitillo, Barbieri who are elite and still availableOther girls are contacting me to come back to work on the track and this makes me happy. So let's say that the group is solid and well-formed, but there are athletes around it who want to be part of it and who can also challenge our choicesAnd as a selector, it's the best position you can have…
