Often all that glitters is not gold. To the last world track championships Italy finished second in the medal table, with the same number of golds as the Netherlands, yet many media outlets have not always given a positive assessment of the Italian team, noting that only one gold and one silver medal were won in the Olympic disciplines. In his analysis, coach Marco Villa, arrived at the World Cup after the Hour record Ganna, first of all wants to defend the work of his boys: «If I had to give a rating to the team I would give it a 10. As for the honors, the gold medal for the men's quartet was missed by a matter of a few tenths."
At the European Championships, the team pursuit debacle had really pissed you off. How did you handle it this time?
We had made a huge mistake then, and to be honest, I was still worried that something was wrong. Even the boys ran with a bit of psychological fear, they held back so as not to ruin the set-up and therefore finished without having really given their all.. Manlius Moro for example he told me upon arrival that he could still push, the same goes for Milan called to launch the quartet, a role he doesn't yet feel is his.
How much of the result is due to the Azzurri's holding back and how much is due to the English?
Equally. The British quartet surprised me, but then again… they had a Hayter in a spatial form, who took home two golds and a silver. He took the quartet very high.
Many have pointed out that the girls, after their beautiful gold medal in the quartet, have become a bit sluggish...
There was a relaxation, I saw it too, but You have to understand that the season for all of them has been very long and atypical. Many were new to the WorldTour, they had done a huge number of races. A special applause goes to the Balsamo, who honored his commitment even after a stressful season. In the omnium she was not the usual Elisa. In Madison there was little synchronicity between the girls, but we know this., it's a specialty that is rarely run and we pay for it.
There is one image of Balsamo that has remained etched in my memory: the sprint with Kopecky that brought her to second place in the omnium elimination, but afterward she was really exhausted.
The Belgian had done the game to make her loseElisa was very good, but there was no point in fighting for the victory, 2 points don't change anything. The Viviani in the omnium elimination he had spent a lot in the first laps and settled for fourth placeThen, in the single race, it was a whole different story.
There's been a lot of talk about Milan being used in other disciplines, not just pursuit. What do you think?
I would like to, but I have to take into account that road activity, thanks to its results, is absorbing him more and moreThis comes at the expense of time dedicated to the track, and we can't ignore the quartet. He's never done the other specialties, the Olympic ones, and they can't be invented overnight. For me, what he does is already enough. I take each athlete based on what he can guarantee me.
The next World Championships will be in August, at a festival that also includes road tests at the same location and time. Is this a problem, and to what extent?
Over the years I believe that we have shown that we always know how to adapt, based on the time of each event. The new event is characterized by multidisciplinary, based on the situation we will study how to line up at the start, what is certain is that we will bring a well-equipped team capable of doing the best possible.
The race to qualify for the Olympics begins next year. Are you worried?
I wouldn't use this term, let's say that it keeps me at my maximum attentionThe path is long and difficult, but I know that I have a large group on my side, an abundance of talents from which to choose to face every challenge, but we will have to be careful not to make any missteps. Meanwhile, however, I'm not just looking at the endurance sector: we will try to achieve a very difficult qualification also in speed. Meanwhile in 2023, in agreement with Forty which is working very well, we will begin to see Predomo even when dealing with the biggest ones, to gain experience.
