GLASGOW – The Azzurri returned to the course yesterday morning, between the junior race and their male colleagues. They managed to do two laps and returned to the hotel with an extra dose of conviction: You can't take the curves side by side. The group will inevitably be very long. We noticed this in the younger races and we will see it first-hand soon. There are two and a half hours left until the departure of the pro race', from Edinburgh to Glasgow. What we're telling you happened last night, during the final planning phase.
Bennati listened to them and took note of them, in this phase of sharing and growing awareness. In yesterday's meeting after dinner, held on the Vittoria bus after the Azzurri followed the quartet finals together, These elements were also useful. Words were exchanged throughout the last few days, but the meeting is a sacred moment, to be prepared with great careFor this reason the Tuscan withdrew to his room and with the juniors' competition as background music, He wrote his last notes with the fountain pen he received as a gift from Alfredo Martini's daughters..
"I waited to say anything else," he explained. the coach of the Azzurrii – why I was pleased that the kids could experience the route first hand. When I am came to see him, with traffic still open, I didn't have the same sensations as them, who also managed to test it at speed. It's an atypical route. Of all the ones I've run, those I've seen, and the recent ones I've followed in various capacities, I don't remember a World Cup like this».
Many different asphalts
It's a real mess, at all levels. For the federations that have to assist athletes from a hundred thousand different disciplines. For the staff. And even for the...for athletes and journalists, forced to run from one point to another in this unusual obstacle course which will last until September 13th.
«It's difficult to interpret – continued Bennati, clearly returning to the path – No one can imagine what will happen when we enter the final circuitThere's no rain forecast, so we'll have some pressure in the tires. But if it starts like the girls did, then everything gets complicated. There are various types of asphaltNew and old, dirty and smooth. The cobblestones, the manhole covers. And then it's all wrapped around the same square, It seems like you're always in the same place, but that's not true.. It gets confusing, but during the race you will have to be fully concentrated."
Admiral in the pits
If it's so difficult for the riders, imagine for those who have to follow them in the team car. When they went for their first taste on Friday, the national team car started three minutes after the riders and took a lap to catch up with them: How can you imagine following the race on such a toboggan?
"You never see the group behind," Bennati confirmed. "Equally, you have to hope for a puncture in the pit area, otherwise getting back in becomes a big problem. And I think that after the first 2-3 laps, I will stop in the pits and give my instructions from thereI think that nothing will happen in the straight section, while I think that the approach to the circuit will be how to get to the first Qwaremont in Flanders: a pretty wild chase."
Pasqualon reserve
He greets us with the explanation of the reserve role entrusted to Pasqualon, arrived on Friday evening from the Tour de Pologne, after having escorted Mohoric to victory in the race.
«I agreed with him and with the team – he explained – that he retired a couple of days earlier, to come on retreat with us and recover well. Instead he rightly stayed in the race and was decisive for his teammate who won. Very nice and I understand that at 36 it would have been a great opportunity, but it would not have been respectful towards the other Azzurri players who came to the retreat and made their choices based on this. Maybe Andrea would have done a great race anyway, because he's someone who knows how to file down, but arriving late on Friday evening, everyone was worried that a stage race couldn't be recovered in such a short time. That's why we asked for it to stop a little earlier."
