After a good Giro d'Italia made of a thousand mountain breakaways, the Swiss and the Italian championship closed in thirteenth place, with 46 days of racing in the first part of the year, Nicola Conci felt the need to disconnectThe Trentino, who has been racing with the jersey of the Alpecin-Deceuninck, he showed up in San Sebastian and since yesterday he is at Tour of Poland. In the first stage, which had an uphill finish in Karapacz, he started with a very good tenth place, 9 seconds behind Nys.The goal in these races is victory, which he has been missing for ages.
The time of choices
Meanwhile, in his ever-so-rational mind, the need to choose a new path dawns. It's the crossroads of many good riders who, in this cycling world populated by great champions, rather than insisting on personal ambitions, they roll up their sleeves for the bigger ones, becoming an integral part of their victories. He explained this a few days ago Dario Cataldo And perhaps Conci is also on the verge of making that choice. In the meantime, he's changed his agents, moving from Fondriest-Alberati to the Carera brothers.
"In short," he says, "I've had a nice break from racing. From Poland I'll head straight to the Tour of Germany, so I have two or three pretty intense weeks ahead of me. Then I plan to do Luxembourg and the block of Italian races leading up to the Giro del Veneto. My contract is expiring, we are working on several fronts, but I am still not sure what I will doI split up with Maurizio and Paolo because after years I felt the need for a change. We parted on good terms, nothing special happened.I'm happy here at Alpecin. It's a great team, all that's missing is the familiarity we Italians are used to, which would sometimes be nice. There used to be a lot of us, now it's just Luca Vergallito and I. Let me give you an example. I like to talk during massages, but doing it in English is a bit limiting. I certainly can't complain because I can't speak Italian during the massages, but it's the little nuances that you have to live with.».
In the spring, we said the Giro would be a major moment. You've been part of many breakaways. How do you assess that?
I was happy because I found myself again. I'm satisfied with the sensations I had and with some stages in particularI think it would have been difficult to do better. For example, the one in Turin, the first, where I came fifthI could have even stayed there and tried to follow, even though probably no one would have been able to hold off Pogacar. Instead I decided to do a nice thing: I tried to win and I liked it.Another day I had a lot of fun was the one in Livigno, the hardest stage of the Giro. I was on the attack for 177 kilometers, there was a lot of altitude difference and in the end I arrived twelfth.The GC riders caught me two kilometers from the finish, so it was a good stage (opening photo, ed.). Of course, I'm a little disappointed about some breakaways, like the one in Fano, where Alaphilippe won and I didn't find the right moment, and the one at Brocon.
Where you also ran at home, given that you're originally from Valsugana...
I'm a little disappointed that they didn't give me any room to escape. I was out for almost 70 kilometers, then inexplicably DSM started to pull, closed the breakaway and then they stopped. And at that moment he left again Steinhauser, who wonHonestly, at that point, I didn't have the legs to follow him a second time. I was disappointed; those are my positions, I wanted to do well.
What do these long escapes leave you with, apart from all this fatigue?
On the day of Mottolino, I was surprised by myself. After attacking all day, I managed to push well on the Foscagno and come out on top in fourth place. It is not a given to stay close to the top in the cycling we are experiencing, where there is a huge gap between a few champions and the rest of the group.If I had chosen to stay with the group that day, I wouldn't have improved my result. I wouldn't have kept up with the others in the standings and I would have been sucked back. Instead I managed to surprise myselfOn the Mortirolo, I was a little annoyed that many riders weren't pushing, so I attacked from the breakaway and rejoined the front. I wasted a bit of energy, but it was a good day.
You were a junior with many victories every year. What difference do you see between the Conci of then and the juniors of now, who win the same number of races as you and are then ready to turn pro?
We're talking about ten years ago, but the world has completely changed. As a junior, I never did more than I had to; in fact, my dad started following me precisely to protect me. I'm certainly not someone who did 6 hours at that age.I simply went fast uphill and won several races because it was easy for me to make the difference. Then as a professional it's another thing, even if the iliac artery problem It influenced me a lot. Going back to my junior years, I didn't do any great work. Strength was taken care of, but for example I never did it behind the cameraI started as an amateur and when I say this it seems like we're talking about the 40s, but it was actually 2014-2015...
You're 27, and many riders your age have already made a radical choice: I don't win, I'd rather go work for someone who can. Are you starting to think about it?
Certainly. We are experiencing a very particular cycling, there are certain athletes who are much faster than others and therefore it is natural that teams are built around themSo those who don't win, like me – because, given the data, I haven't won yet – it's normal that one day or another they'll make themselves available. Indeed I have always worked me too for my comrades, even if maybe in the Giro during the hardest stages I had the freedom to go on the breakaway.
Yesterday you came in tenth on the uphill finish. How eager are you to raise your arms?
I think about it all the time. I'm 27 and I don't know how many more years I'll be racing, because cycling is ruthless. I still have a lot of hope, though. It would be a shame to finish without ever having won as a professionalWinning isn't the most important thing, you can also help and get great satisfaction. Objectively, I realized that To win I have to try to invent something, I can't wait for the finalsYesterday too, I thought several times in the last 2-3 kilometers about trying to get ahead, but I was a bit tired.
The Olympics just took place, and now we're working towards the World Championships. You ran in Wollongong in 2022, so Zurich might be a good fit for you...
I honestly think about it a lot, but I haven't heard yet Welcome. I actually think it depends on me and whether I can prove that I can pedal well.Wollongong remains a good memory, we had a good race and missed out on the medal with Rota due to tactical play. I stayed in the breakaway for 60 kilometres with him. It was a beautiful day, I supported him as much as I could and it turned out to be a great race. Definitely It was a great honor to wear the national jersey, it's always something special. We'll see if I can win her over again.
