When Ballero won the first Roubaix, Davide had been born seven months earlier and who knows if anyone made a joke to his father. Then Franco won the second in 1998, but in fact the first time Ballerini heard about Ballerini was when he started running He was also on a bicycle. How many possibilities were there, one Tuscan and the other Lombard, who apart from their last names, did they have identical cycling tastes? And yet, that's how it went. It would have been fun to have them sit down together, with one, the national team coach, advising the other on the eve of the race. But fate didn't want it that way.
When the Dancer left, Davide was 16 years oldAnd the fact that that nickname passed from Franco's shoulders to his seemed normal to everyone. Thus today the Ballero, like Ballero at the time, dreams of winning the RoubaixAnd like the Ballero of that time, he knows that it won't be easy at all. Among the coincidences, there is that his sports director Wilfried Peeters, that day ran to support Franco (and Museeuw) and finished in 23rd place. And the manager of that Mapei-GB was Patrick Lefevere himself who today leads the Deceuninck-Quick Step.
Put like that, you have no escape. Why Roubaix?
It's a dream. The most beautiful race I'd like to win, and I can confirm it's not easy.
Do you also confirm that you knew nothing about Franco?
I heard about it when I started running, before that I didn't know much about cycling. Afterwards, little by little, I discovered his characteristics and his career.
The first taste of that cobblestone?
As a junior, a real disaster…
City De Candido remembers seeing you coming up from a ditch with ferns in your helmet…
I fell. I got a flat tire. But I had just started running, It wasn't easy enough to stay in a group on asphalt, imagine up there. It was all new, the only thing I remember was the recommendation to take the front linesAs if it were easy…
You tried it again in your third year as a pro, how did it go?
It's strange, I'd like to win it, but I've only done one. Anyway, I was with Astana and it didn't go badly. Too bad because I fell into the Carrefour de l'Arbre, taking a spectator who was leaning out.
Actually, he was the one who took you to take a picture…
You need a lot of luck in everything, but I did well. In any case, between being a junior and then a pro, the world changes.Except that taking the front sections remains very difficult. And then you have to stay focused. If you lose 10 seconds when they shoot, you never get back in..
They call it the Hell of the North.
I remember that already from the retreat, My classmates told me that it's hard on your hands too. Instead, when I arrived, I had lactic acid in my arms, but my hands were generally fine.
Possible?
It is crucial to have the right comfort on the bike and the right tire pressureThe cobblestones are not all the same, some allow you to pedal on the dock and then things change a lot. That day, not knowing what to do, I stamped myself on Sagan trying to steal his job. To him and to the others too, because each sector has its own trajectories and secrets.
Tire pressure, you were saying…
We went on a reconnaissance three days before and I tried them all until I found the one that was best for me.I asked a lot of questions of Zanini, our sports director at Astana. The world changes from one setup to another, and it also changes from one team to another. At the time, I rode an Argon 18 with 28-inch tubulars. I don't know if this year I'll use the same size or larger ones, I don't know what materials. Anyway, with a pressure variation of 0,3 or 0,5, you get completely different bikes.
Specialized has always done great work for the Roubaix…
I haven't used it yet, because last year the race was canceled. I knew there was a bike for the cobblestones, but when I saw the suspension, I rubbed my handsAfter the lockdown we had a training camp, but only to try out Flanders.
What is the first Roubaix you remember?
Cancellara's last one, the one from 2013. Stybar was also on the run with him and during the retreat we shared a room and he told me about it. It was his first Roubaix, he went really fast.
Do you already have an idea of what you'll do to be ready for Roubaix?
I've spoken often with my coach Tom Steels. My program includes Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Strade Bianche, Tirreno, Sanremo, Flanders, Harelbeke, De Panne, and Roubaix. At Flanders, we'll all be behind the world champion, Alaphilippe. Especially after what he showed last year. But then I'll have my own space. It will depend on my situation. There are many of us, but there is no Boonen who can make everyone agree..
Alone or in a sprint?
To win Only a few people have succeeded on their own and I went on the track a bit when I was young, but I never raced in a velodrome.
Will you go up and try out the route and materials?
We'll definitely have some training camps, but I don't know when yet. Steels asked me if I wanted to go, and I looked at him askance. Some things shouldn't even be proposed: they just get done!
