Affini knows how to stay in his place and do what he's asked to do. Perhaps that's why to the Jumbo Visma they are happy with him and often put him in the team that has to support Van Aert, when the boss wants to run.
Affini is 25 years old, his name is on his helmet, and if he could, he'd escape the social media rules of the moment. However, he understands its importance (for the team and his sponsors) and tries to be available intelligently. This is also why when you call him to have a chat, he rarely comes out with banal phrases. Edoardo has his head on his shoulders and maybe he will spend most of his time pulling for a captain, but in his head he is also a leaderYou don't win two European championships (in the road race as a junior in 2014, in the time trial as an U23 in 2018) and You can't fight against a giant like Ganna if you don't have the winning mentality.
Daily bread
In Omloop Het Nieuwsblad won on Saturday by Van Aert, Edoardo also had his share. When we saw them at the start, all tall and powerful, we understood that the Dutch team wanted to keep the race closedAnd while Wout was in the front row posing for the ritual photos, his teammates behind were gathered together waiting for the start.
"It was nice," Affini recalls, "to finally see some people. Then we can discuss whether it's right to wear masks or not. Every country has its own laws, and every organization does what it wants based on the rules." Up there you can feel their passion for cycling, it's their daily bread.It's always nice to see that atmosphere."
Are certain races also a big responsibility for Van Aert's teammates?
Certainly With a captain like that we have well-defined roles. There is a certain responsibility, it's true. Pressure, however, up to a certain point, in the sense that when you leave you always want to do your job well. So I think a little pressure is right, but it certainly shouldn't be overwhelming, otherwise it leads you to make mistakes and not perform well.
How do you go from the solitude of the time trial to the wild crowd of certain little roads?
More than the time trial mentality and the one on the rocks, the point is more about staying in a group 2 millimeters apart from each other. Everyone's grinding to the max, fighting for every inch. Perhaps that word shouldn't be used these days, but those races have always been described as a kind of war. Up there everything is on the edge.
You often have to work remotely…
The goal when Wout is there is to work for him. The other day I had to try to keep everything under control from the beginning. There was a lot of wind to eat, basically, but It's always a pleasure to work with a captain like Wout.
Why does he always win?
Because in the end he managed to finalize the perfect team work. Everyone else in the team also worked perfectly and we created the perfect situation for Wout to attack on the Bosberg. It went like a train to the end, it couldn't have started better than this..
It's hard to find someone who comes down from the hills and wins in the first race.
He and Roglic are very methodical about this, always ready even after a retreat at high altitudeWe were confident we could do well, but in Belgian racing anything can happen, from a mechanical issue to a crash. Instead, on Saturday everything went smoothly. Good thing.
How do you celebrate in a Dutch team?
We celebrated like the other teams (laughs, ed.). We had a glass of wine, but the next day we still had to run in Kuurne, so we couldn't overdo it.. And we wouldn't have done it anyway.
The Tirreno begins with a time trial.
When it became known that the first stage would be a time trial, I circled it in red. Let's see what our legs will be like after CovidI got it in Valencia too, everyone got it. I left a week ago. I've lost some time, but I'll try to be ready as always.In every time trial I always give the best I can, depending on the moment.
