Andrea Vendrame loaded his bike and hopes onto his car and at a certain point in the summer, after the Italian championships, He climbed up to the Pordoi Pass, a Dolomite height that is perhaps less fashionable, but still an excellent heightWe met him just on the eve of the Italian championship and from his story of the passion he puts into cycling and the fact that his cycling is rarely a light stroll, we thought of asking his trainer a few questionsNot just anyone, but a technician who, as a professional, won the Italian championship and the Giro di Lombardia. Someone who may not speak much, but has things to say: Gianni FaresinAnd if a rider like Vendrame continued to have him as a coach even after five years as a professional, then perhaps he also has something to teach.
Under 23 winner
Today Faresin is racing with his boys from Zalf Desirée Fior. Last year he changed his shirt, but when the Castelfranco team took the step to become continental, Gianni thanked Casillo and went homeThe same house where in the now distant 2015 he met Andrea Vendrame.
"He was the same as now," he recalls, "fast in small groups. He came to us having already achieved something (among Vendrame's best results in 2014, when he was racing at the Marchil, were 4th place at the Medaglia d'Oro Frare De Nardi and 5th at the Bolghera, ed.), but As soon as he found the right environment, he grew dramatically. He has always been very serious and precise, sometimes it was and still is necessary to restrain him, because he does more than what he is told. The team left him free to follow and he chose to continue with me.».
Man from the North
The past is well-known history. Vendrame joined Zalf in 2015 and scored four victories: the Giro della Provincia di Belluno, the San Donà night race, the Zanchi Trophy, and the Giro del Belvedere. 2016 would certainly have been the year of his consecration, but a car hit him in mid-April and nearly ended his careerThe results of that year are the consequence of the pursuit of better condition. No victories, but seven second places in important races, such as Felino, Briga, the Giro del Casentino, the Ruota d'Oro and the Piccolo Lombardia. And above all third place at the European Championships in Plouay, with the scars of that fall still on his face.
"Andrea will continue to grow," says Faresin, "with experience and growing endurance. Every year he is more aware that on certain paths he can be a winnerHe also throws himself into bunch sprints, because the team allows it. It's dangerous, but it's useful for tight sprints. As for the classics, if he manages to have a good winter, he can also be a winner in BelgiumHe doesn't need much to get into shape. Just think about the last Coppi and Bartali crash, the necessary break, and the fact that he was able to win the Giro."
The little Tours
His seriousness in training is a file that deserves to be reopened, especially because Faresin the rider was just like that.
«Many riders – admits Faresin smiling – tend to give up after a Giro d'Italia, because they have the next race in a month. They don't realize that if they do this, the energy expenditure of getting back into the condition is greater than what it would cost them not to give up.. Andrea understood itAnd frankly, I don't see any major areas for improvement. Perhaps, if something needs to be changed, it's the fact that Before the road races he is aiming for, he has never done those week-long stage races that give you that extra edgeThe Basques before the classics, for example. This year he did the Tirreno before the Sanremo, but that race is enchanted for him. In the end it gets tough, but it allows those 5-6 sprinters stronger than him to get to the endIt would take a tough race, perhaps in bad weather, for him to fulfill this dream of his."
