Jonathan Milan, the man with double commitments. The road and the track, then the Tour of Poland and the Clasica San Sebastian. We were expecting him here in Poland, but the Olympic champion of the quartet was in the Basque Country helping Pello Bilbao. Since last night, he's already been on the track in Montichiari.
Milan, cyclamen jersey at the last minute Tour of Italy, it was the object of the citizen's desire Daniele bennati for Glasgow World Cup. But it was also the object of desire of the track manager, Marco Villa. The rider of Bahrain-Victorious He thus found himself between two friendly fires, which was no laughing matter. Two passions, two dreams, two teams, two enormous opportunities, and two enormous responsibilities. Let's reconstruct it all with the talent of Friuli himself.
Jonathan, first of all: how are you?
A little tired! In San Sebastian I did a good job for the team and for Pelo Bilbao. Obviously the classic Basque is a bit hard for me, but I tried to take it as a training, in quotation marks. To go as far as possible.
San Sebastian, Poland: You were announced by both sides. How did it go?
In fact I should have played in Poland, but with the time available due to my commitments with the national team for the World Cup, I wouldn't have finished it. The team was looking for someone to complete the San Sebastian squad and, in agreement with the coaches, I asked to go to Spain.
How are you feeling about your condition? How have you been working?
"Good," he replies with a confident tone, "I worked hard and well. I covered a lot of ground, I put in a lot of energy and I am satisfied with what has been done. Now the last few days await us to refine the leg and do the final tests...
Not that less energy and attention was invested in the quartet last year, but from the amount of work done on the track, from Villa's retirements, it seems the atmosphere has changed again. A different determination. Is that true?
That's right, the Olympics are getting closer. The World Championships are always important, but a World Cup with the Olympics to follow is even more so. We want to get there in good shape so we can compete with other national teams, like New Zealand or Australia. They'll be ready, too. We're curious to see how they've trained, what level they're at, who they're bringing, and what equipment they'll use.
Villa wants you, Bennati wants you…
Unfortunately, and I want to say I'm sorry, I had to choose. This year's World Championship program is complicated with dates. I don't know who made it, nor what the point of such a program is.. Immediately after the Giro d'Italia I was thinking about the road world championship, indeed... I would have skipped the individual too if I had been well.
And what happened instead?
I wasn't sick, but it took me a while to recover from the fatigue of the Giro. I had some intestinal problems the night before the Tre Cime stage and struggled a lot all the way to Rome. You can't imagine what I went through to finish the Tre Cime stage; I almost dropped out on the transfer on a slight slope. So I came out very tired. I was out for several days and when I started again I felt that my body still needed rest. At that point it was no longer feasible to prepare for both the road and track world championships.
Sure, but in the end, it's nice to be desired by both sides. It's also a source of pride...
Yes, it's nice, but as I said, this choice makes me sad. I never thought I'd end up asking myself, "Oh, what kind of World Cup am I going to this year?" If the two tests had been a little more spaced apart I would have done both. It would have been more feasible. There would have been more recovery, but not like this (Saturday evening final of the team pursuit, Sunday the road, Sunday evening individual pursuit, ed.). I would have risked hurting both of them, and I don't like that.
You said you felt bad after the Giro, that you felt the need to recover: did this have a significant impact on your choice between road and track after the Giro?
Yes, it had an impact. If my teammates hadn't been there to escort me and cheer me on the whole time towards the Tre Cime, I wouldn't have made it. You know how it is: as long as you're racing, you somehow support yourself, but as soon as the Giro was over, the adrenaline dropped and I felt completely empty. So it had an impact because I no longer felt like trying to do both. In fact, For a moment I thought I wouldn't even be ready for the track.
And what did the technicians tell you?
We agreed. They told me to decide, and after talking it over, I chose the path.
Why the track?
Because we are on the eve of the Olympics. I would like to do the quartet and the individual pursuit and the choice was made mainly with this in mind. Then there's another thing (we know Jonathan doesn't like to improvise, ed.). At the beginning of the year I knew I had to do the track world championships, but not the road world championships. I never would have imagined Bennati would ask me to go with him. The road race is 270 kilometers, you have to get there well. You can't improvise.
