Who is not at the Tour de France it is almost certainly at high altitude and perhaps at Livigno. And up there, in the pearl of the Rhaetian Alps, there is also Matteo Fabbro. The Friulian is on retreat with some of his teammates Bora Hansgrohe including Bodnar e BenedettiLots of kilometers, a few selfies, and few breaks.
There's a lot to work on, and he has a lot of races ahead of him. The key is to get back on track and return to the level he deserves.
We start again from Livigno, Matteo….
That's right, we start again from here! After the Italian championship I spent a few days without even looking at the bike.
And what competitions are you preparing for?
I'm getting ready for the season finale. I won't be doing the Return but all the other races. I'll resume with Limburg, Wallonia, San Sebastian, and the Tour of Poland.
Was it planned that you wouldn't do the Vuelta?
The team had counted on me more for the first part of the season than the second, but never say never. And if a last-minute call for the Vuelta were to arrive, because in cycling today you can never be sure, I would gladly go there.
How do you rate your season so far?
I started well, but then at the Giro, between the crash and one thing and another, I didn't perform as well as I wanted. Plus, we lost our captain with five days to go. So if I had to rate the Giro, I'd say it didn't go well, while if I had to rate it based on what I did before the Giro, I'd say I'm very satisfied. I didn't expect Tirreno to finish fifth either.
What happened at the Giro?
I was sick after the Tirreno. I caught a cold on that stage of the walls and had bronchitis that wouldn't go away. In the end I was forced to stay ten days without touching the bike. And in today's cycling you have to be at your best to do well.
You said you'll be doing all the other races outside of the Vuelta, including those on the Italian calendar. Is there one you particularly like? And most importantly, what kind of mentality do you go into it with?
Well, I hope I can do well in those races I mentioned before. Which of the Italian ones do I prefer? Lombardia It's the quintessential end-of-year classic, and also the one that suits me best. But the Giro dell'Emilia is also tough, and I like it. In the races on the Italian calendar, I want to do well in all of them.
But you didn't do badly in Switzerland either, all in all you came out of the Giro well...
The Tour of Switzerland wasn't on the agenda. I worked hard there too for our captain, SchachmannI heard about the call-up to the Swiss team on the second rest day after the Giro… imagine! So I only stayed for three days. At that point, I continued straight to the Italian. I'd been running for a while. I'd started at Provence in February. My only regret, as I repeat, was getting sick after the Tirreno.
Matteo, you told us you wanted to continue growing and compete with the strongest uphill climbers: is this still a valid goal?
Yes, yes, it's always true. The Tirreno result gave me a lot of confidence. But if you have problems in today's cycling, you pay for them.
And now you're in Livigno with your teammates: how are you working?
Let's not do too much intensity. Let's do some core exercises and some light work to stress the body. By jobs I mean medium and medium-high, in short, low threshold. The races aren't close, and those will tell us what level we're at. Also because I'm leaving for Limburg and Wallonia without any great ambitions, given that he won last year. demare"Well, they're not really my kind of competition," says the Friulian climber who weighs just over 55 kilos, "but never say never. Maybe because you start out with a free mind, without pressure, you have fun, and end up doing well."
The Friulian rider has a strong desire for redemption. The feeling is that Fabbro can have fun in these races that await him. He's a "straight guy": he goes his own way and has clear ideas. If we've gotten to know him, his primary goal is to improve on climbs to keep up with the big guys, and his idea is to aim one day for the general classification of a major Giro. At the very least, they'll want to try to see if it's possible and to what extent. And that's an important ambition, one that helps you work day after day.
