“The only really difficult moment,” says Ganna, “were the last 10 minutes. I prayed they would end because I really couldn't take it anymore.I was constantly thinking, “Come on, it’s the same effort you make when you do strength work on the track with the boys.” And instead it took longer. Having friends around was important. But they were out partying, I was out there struggling.».
Boardman shot down
Let's start from the end and hope you'll excuse the lateness. Filippo Ganna crushed the Hour Record and brought it back under the same umbrella. No distinction between those obtained on the very futuristic bikes and that of Merckx. On his Pinarello certainly hyper-technological but with classic geometries, the Piedmontese overtook Bigham and then aimed at BoardmanAt one point he even set his sights on 57 kilometers, but he quickly realized that it wasn't the right thing to do. The new measurement is 56,792 kilometers and now go and get it.
Like Merckx and Wiggo
Merckx got off his bike and said he would never try again, Coppi had previously said more or less the same thing.
“I agree with both of them,” he smiles wearily, “at least until someone beats him, which I believe will happen. Technology is making distances ever greaterBut in that case I'll do like Wiggins, I'll try it at the end of my career. For the last ten minutes I couldn't find a comfortable position, I kept moving.
«And in the meantime I was also saying: “Come on, you won't touch it tomorrow anyway." Tomorrow's a free day, mostly in the van to get up to France, to Paris. And maybe in the evening, a little walk to work off today's fatigue. In the end, I had… a great pain even on the saddle and I can't wait to take a shower. All the wine they poured on me is starting to burn…».
Three possible scenarios
There was a plan agreed upon with Villa and Cioni. Pippo would go more conservatively for the first 30 minutes and then, passing in front of Villa, he would be the one to show him the table to follow. Three scenarios. One was a gamble: the 57 kilometers. The other two were much more affordable: Bigham's record and Boardman's..
Ganna started cautiously. Then he inexorably began to lower his lap timeAnd perhaps at a certain point he pushed too hard. To the point that Villa first got excited and then at a certain point, given the dip in the final minutes, tried to tell him to slow down, but there was no way he would. In fact, at a certain point Pippo nodded to him with his thumb, that he would point to 57 kilometers.
«Actually – he smiles – I didn't wait half an hour because I felt good and so I left earlyMaybe I overdid it, I messed it up a bit. I could have stuck to the plan, because in the end it was just a matter of really gritting my teeth. At one point I actually thought I could go for 57, but it didn't last long. And I said to myself: “Be good Filippo, there are 12 laps left, think about getting to the end”».
The right relationships
He's sitting a meter away. They handed him over. the sign with the measurement and a Tissot watch, sponsor of the event and this Swiss velodrome which appears in the middle of nowhere, in a town that apparently has nothing else except a watchmaking tradition.
«At the beginning the departure was according to plan – he says – I had in mind to beat Daniel (Bigham, ed.) even just by a meter. When I felt that my leg was there halfway through the race, I tried to push and try to set the highest record possible. I didn't think so, but the last 15 minutes were really tiringThe day before, we had discussed the ratio. We did a test, I wanted to try the 65 and also the 66. I don't deny that In the first half hour, an extra tooth would have been useful.. But in the end I thought that it would have been better to have two less. So I think we made every choice perfectly. When my team and I set a goal, we give it our all 110 percent.».
Pebbles from shoes
Beers start popping up around. Lombardi is over the moon, Villa talks about it and Cioni does the sameThe negative tension of the World Cup melted away indoors this extended family that is the champion's refuge, motivator, and fuel.
«I didn't even think I'd get this far – he says – I knew I could get to 56, but Already on the rollers this morning, during the warm-up, I was able to maintain the values that I didn't have at the world championshipsDid it take courage to come here after that bad day? Probably, yes. It wasn't an easy time. The season isn't over yet, but after the World Championships I won't touch the bike for at least a monthI'll take it back at the first training camp with the team and next year we'll try to take it easier, perhaps focusing a little harder on the goals we set ourselves. Who do I dedicate this to? To myself. When you have so many against you, it's not easy. But then it's even nicer to shut them up.».
