Next stop: the Tour. Enrico Gasparotto has just returned from a week's vacation in Greece with his wife Anna, although the last three days weren't what he expected. The Death of Gino Mader it hit him very close to homeThe two were very close. They had shared a room at the 2020 Vuelta, they had been teammates in the national team at the European Championships in Trento and the Swiss was one of the few riders who were guests for dinner at the Friulian's houseHaving experienced the tragedy so many kilometers away and together with his wife allowed him to metabolize it better: if he had been in Switzerland, he probably wouldn't even have the strength to talk about it now. The focus of the discussion, however, is the Tour, in which Enrico will make his debut on the flagship, just like Hindley who will be driving it for the first time.
What are your feelings about Hindley and his approach to the Tour?
The official lineup is being decided right now, but not everything is finalized yet. We're definitely going with both a sprinter and Jai Hindley, which will obviously have ranking ambitionsHe bet everything on the Tour, It has had a constantly growing approach, similar to that of the 2022 GiroThe schedule was quite soft at the beginning of the year, but then it started to grow. Between races, high altitude retreats and more races, I think the performances at Dauphiné have given positive signals (at the beginning, the Australian third at the finish line of the Croix de Fer, ed.).
Podium goal?
We are all realistic and he even more than us. Vingegaard and Pogacar They are probably on another level, but I think there is a good fight behind them on equal terms for what's left. So you have to fit in, and I think that's Jai's primary goal.
Groupama is leaving Demare at home to aim for the podium, while you're bringing the sprinter. Who's right?
The experience of the 2022 Giro is quite significant, isn't it? Kamna won the fourth stage on Etna and brought a lot of tranquility and serenity to the environment. This year we started the Giro to do the general classification with Vlasov and Kamna, so we were only focusing on that. However, seeing that... At the Tour there are potentially eight sprints, it is normal that the idea was to divide the team in twoIt is not up to us to do the mountain race, because we have seen since last year that Jumbo and the UAE. If you have the strength to stay with them as long as possible, you can get to the podium.That said, and wanting to support the sprinter, we will bring 2-3 more men to help him in crowded finales.
Riders who will also work for Hindley when necessary?
Of course. They can help Jai, we're not taking anything away from him. We did the same thing last year, leading Sam Bennett, with Vlasov eventually finishing fifth post.
Does the Tour lend itself to tactical inventions of any kind?
I'm leaving for France completely inexperienced, because As a rider I only did the Tour once and never as a director. The dynamics are not those of the Giro, so it's a new experience for me too. It was the same last year at the Giro as director, but at least I had raced the Giro 10 times as a riderIn France I won't be the responsible technician, I'll be supporting. This year's Tour is off to a bad start, after 5 days they could all be in their place and this takes away the creativityIf you get hit hard at the start, it's hard to come up with anything later.
Why? Can't we study the route and try it?
Pogacar and Vingegaard have shown on the pitch how strong they are, so everyone wants to understand where they stand compared to themAnd this slows down the momentum, so to speak. The other directors did the site inspections. After the Tour of the Basque Country, they stayed to do reconnaissance with a video and route testThen the boys went on retreat to Tignes and are still at high altitude, taking advantage of the proximity of the Alpine stages. They did them on bikes before and after the DauphinéThe climbers will return from the high altitude on Thursday, while the sprinters had a separate training camp.
And yet, after the Turin 2022 stage, everyone's expecting you to invent something. Is that pressure you feel?
I felt it at the Giro, because already Before the Bergamo stop I was asked more questions than usualIt's also true that certain things can be done when you have the opportunity and the right people. During my reconnaissance, I've always dreamed that the Forno di Zoldo stage was the ideal one to do a lot of damage e seeing how it wentI was even more convinced. But we no longer had Vlasov, and Kamna was in a declining phase. I don't know what we can do at the Tour. We'll have to live day by day and hope to have men in condition…
