Adrii Ponomar, another junior among the professionals. This time the quickest to grab the young Ukrainian champion was Gianni Savio, who signed him for two years in his Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec.
In autumn for the boy of the Franco Ballerini the bells of the WorldTour had also rung but then things didn't end and the boy didn't stay "on foot" for long, as they say.
From Ukraine by minibus
But what kind of rider is Ponomar? What potential does he have? Who better to tell us than his junior sports director?
«Andrii is a talent – he says Andrea Bardelli Franco Ballerini – I had the opportunity to have him here for a long time last year, partly because of Covid. He stayed for a while, then he went home and returned to Italy in July, having a really strong season finale.
"He's a truly determined guy. In all my years as a sports director, I've never seen anyone like him. Imagine that he returned from Ukraine in one of those minibuses that many people travel in, which usually depart and arrive from stations in big cities. He went almost two days without eating. He was very determined… Mature. Even when it came to training. He was in the little house in San Baronto and went out alone. I had to keep an eye on him otherwise he'd do ten hours! Sometimes my dad, an 80-year-old enthusiast, would follow him on his "Pandina".
Diesel Ponomar
Of course, the risk of passing away at just 18 years of age is not low, even if the trend, as we have written and rewritten, is that.
He asked me, and I advised him to come by. He's finally ready. Of course, it needs to be managed. We'll have to see what schedule they'll give him. When there were rumours of the WorldTour, maybe a year or two in the continental ranks would have been better, since someone like him wouldn't have had any problems getting through. But now everyone wants to do like evenepoel. It was also possible that one of these teams would have taken him and put him in their continental team."
The Olympics in the lead
According to Bardelli, Ponomar is a complete rider, especially one suited to stage races. A rider who could compete in a major Giro d'Italia within four or five years.
«Andrii is strong on climbs and in time trials, but don't ask him to sprint! He's a diesel… It's a bit like TiberiHe also raced with us. The fact that he's not fast won't help him win any time soon, I imagine. His victories will take longer. It's only right that he gain experience now and take his beatings.
«He lives for the bike anyway. He dreams of the Olympics. He's obsessed with this, really! Maybe it's because in Eastern countries the Games are Games, but he's got them in his head. What does he need to improve on? A little in general, in managing his life as an athlete, but he's very young."
Ellena knows what to do
In fact, what Bardelli says isn't wrong: what schedule will Ponomar follow? How will it be managed? He answered these questions. John Ellena, sports director of Androni.
"He stayed with us for three days, with the other guys. I wanted to get to know him. He's just a kid, after all. And he has a lot of growing up to do. Yeah. Issue even if he's the same age he's more ready, maybe it's because over there in South America they throw them into the fray. The idea was to have him start at the end of April, at the Tour de Bretagne, but that was cancelled. So we're considering starting him at the Tour of Turkey. It's true that it's a more important race, but there are wide roads, it's not dangerous, the peloton isn't too nervous, and there are important constraints.
"Starting tomorrow, we're on a training camp in Liguria, and we'll divide the boys into groups. We'll be able to see him up close and start working on him, especially since he honestly needs to lose some weight. It's understandable that I've put on a few extra pounds this winter. It was a drama with the pros, let alone with the juniors who raced so little and finished early."
In short, with Ellena Ponomar she is in excellent hands and will be able to easily show her full potential which, it seems, is really important.
