TURIN – Gaviria arrives while all his teammates are already on the bus. He smiles. He doesn't smile. He says he's happy. He says no.Coming in second place for a pure sprinter is hard to accept. Even though, on closer inspection, Fernando hasn't raised his arms for a long time. The last time was in Duitama, the first race of the season, in the Tour of his country. Then there were many top-ten finishes, with fourth place in the Rome stage of the Giro as his best result of the spring and second today in Turin behind Biniam Girmay.
«It's not true that it was a close call – he says – we haven't proven anything. If I had better legs, I would have wonBut we tried. The team did a very good job, it's a shame we didn't get the win."
Climbers versus giants
Max Sciandri stops by to say hello. The Tuscan will be returning home tonight and jokes that he's got the team on the right track. Meanwhile around the rider of the Movistar Team Colombian cameras also focused on the second placeHe's wearing his glasses and yellow helmet because Movistar is leading the standings. He speaks calmly and continues explaining.
«I'm satisfied with what we've done – he says – the team helped me a lot. Seeing teammates like Nelson Oliveira and Alex Aranburu in front of me, supporting me and standing by me, was important. Because in the end there are 90 kilo riders who touch you and climbers who weigh 50 kilos., so the work they did for me is admirable. We were so focused that I didn't even notice the crash. I wanted to do well today. I felt something had happened. I heard them talking on the radio, but I was in another world».
Between saying and doing…
This first stage, which was expected to be the stage for Cavendish's first assault, turned out to be the comeback for Girmay, who himself had not won since the end of January. It is no longer the Tour of the past, which in the first weeks offered sprint after sprintAfter the first two stages full of altitude differences, tomorrow the Galibier it will be a high obstacle to overcome in order to aim for further sprints.
«We hope to win one – he replies laconically – I don't know if you know, but We riders win many stages in advance and then in the end we have to face reality.It's hard to say if I understood I could win today. It's difficult, because every day the sprint is different. Today you can finish second, next time maybe you'll have better legs and still finish twentieth. It's very difficult to know how each stage will end. but in the end I will try to do my best every day».
From Nice to Paris
His road leads to Nice through mountains and sprints. But then from Nice it will lead to Paris. Despite the controversies, Gaviria will in fact run the Olympic Games of the omnium on the track, returning to challenge Viviani before whom he bowed in 2016 in Rio.
«But now the priority is the Tour de France – he says – like for all the riders. It's one of the most important races in the world and it's a priorityWe'll think about the Olympic Games later. Maybe my preparation is better suited to that goal, but right now I'm focused on the Tour, trying to do my best. When they told me I was going to Paris, the feelings were very good..
At the end of last year, I returned to track training and competed in the Pan-American Championships. This year, I started training in the velodrome again, and in the last month, I've done even more. So, I feel pretty good and motivated by these new goals we've set for ourselves, both with the team and with the Olympic Committee. They have made this decision and I am happy to represent the country again at the Olympic Games.So first of all, let's hope we don't exceed tomorrow's time limit on the Galibier. And then we'll have time to think about what comes next..."
