The sound of the rain on the windshield is pouring, even if De Marchi laughingly points out that a rainbow can be seen on the horizonIt must be an omen, we note and he smiles. From home to Varese, where the warehouse is Bike Exchange-Jayco, there is a good stretch of road that smells of conquest. Alessandro got in the car early in the morning to go and get the bike that will accompany him throughout the winterThe contract is signed, that rainbow is no accident.
This about De Marchi finding a team at the end of October is one of those pieces that you keep in the drawer waiting for things to become official. And things in this case have had a lightning acceleration on October 20, when the Australian team formalized the offer, pulling Rosso di Buja away from the slope of pessimism it had embarked on.
Three broken ribs
Until the day before, in fact, Alessandro He fought with three broken ribs at the Veneto Classic, which prevented him from sleeping and cycling in the unusual spring that had exploded throughout Friuli.
“I’ve been waiting for a long time,” he said, “with a thousand puzzles in place. Situations that could materialize. When you lose the first round of the market, it goes like this:Do people perhaps stop at age? That may be true, but last year around this time I won the Tre Valli VaresineI wasn't ready for this situation, because I may be 36 years old, but I think that in the right environment I could still do my things."
And in the end, your 36 years have become an added value…
That's the argument they used, also to explain why they came looking for me so late. Brent (Copeland, the team manager, ed.) gave me a very interesting interpretation. For 2023 they have included several young people, between neopros and new people. I think 7-8 guys under 23 and they need a slightly older addition and that's why they saw a good fit in meIn particular, they gave me advance notice of the Giro project, in the sense that They probably want to send a relatively young group, bringing me as a… mother hen.
A nice role, huh?
The first thing that came to my mind was that I'm going back to doing what I did with the boys of Cycling Team Friuli, even though we've seen each other a little less lately. This year has been special and I haven't followed them much on the bike. But I have in the past and It was something I really liked, it gave me satisfactionAnd being able to do it because the team that signs you explicitly asks you to is a really great thing.
Is pessimism behind us?
I really landed on my feet. Of all the situations, this was the best. They had already contacted me before Israel, I'm really happyI had met Brent over the summer, I had approached him briefly and he was very honest and clear from the start, and then he turned out to be true to his word. He told me he would come and look for me if he needed me.It was August and now I think I can say that I will be dealing with good people.
Was the flame always there or was it just dying out?
The little light was there, though I admit that at a certain point she had become quite smallI had also started to think about what life would be like without the bike? Because, after all, you also have to be a little practical. You have bills to pay., so I had to think about what to do. Closing it like this would have really pissed me off.
Was your agent Scimone good or did you plant the seeds well?
Raimondo it was important and perhaps decisive, because At one point I was quite discouraged by the fact that I wasn't receiving any offersI thought: "I've done a lot, I've given a lot, last year everyone was happy to see me in the pink jersey and now I can't find a contract?" And there Raimondo was what every now and then brought me to my senses. Two slaps and he kept me at bay. But undoubtedly, when they come to call you talking about experience, the fact that you have sown something is evident.
How did you feel about the demotivated De Marchi of the last few weeks?
I admit that the whole season, especially the final part, was quite tough. If I look back, I don't recognize myself because I took the hit. Once again, I was coming off a super 2021, I was ready to go all out, instead the spring I spent destroyed me little by littleIt left me a bit mentally weakened as I prepared for the second half of the season. At the Vuelta I started pedaling, then came the crash. And on top of everything, there was obviously this contract thing. which added up and didn't help at all.
And now you can finally dedicate yourself to time trials again: Pinotti will already be waiting for you…
This was perhaps the first thing that came to mind when I saw the Giro route. I know Marco is there waiting for me and honestly I can't wait.
What effect did it have to be relegated to the professional ranks?
There are moments when it was experienced, especially at the beginning, as something that can still be recovered and is not that serious. In the final stage, when it was clear that we would not be able to recover, we began to attack the system and say it wasn't fair. But I think it was all a consequence of the previous two years.
How did they take it at home? Was your wife Anna a little saddened too, or did she have more faith in you?
Anna believed in it more than I did. Every now and then she also told me to stop feeling sorry for myself.I've also been slapped a few times. in house, well. So now I'm off to meet the people I'll be working with and start a normal winter. I really needed that.
