It's hard to understand who he really is happy with the organization of the upcoming Glasgow World Cup. Even during the Tour days, the same head of the press office of theUCI – jokingly of course – when asked how things were going, he replied that he would have preferred to talk about the next ones. Certainly Bennati is not happy, who due to the overlap between the road and the track was unable to call up Milan, Ganna and Consonni. And to hear him, Even Marco Velo, who supervises the time trials, is in seventh heaven.This time, in addition to the unavailability of the athletes, the reason is the impossibility of testing the team race route. The city can't stop; cycling will have to adapt.
«I don't agree with the management of the races – the Brescian blurts out – because multidisciplinary has been penalizedYou can't do a medium-easy road route (even though the World Championships are never easy), but it should be suitable for stamina-oriented rouleurs, compatible with the track, and the dates should be set at the same time. And not even the team time trial the day after the Madison on the trackBut this isn't the only mistake. We're talking about the Mixed Team Relay. Have you seen the course? It runs three at a time, but has 42-43 curves in 20 kilometersThe gesture and the very concept of the team time trial are distorted. These things seem absurd to me, especially made by the UCI which should give indications on how the routes should be drawn».
A team time trial that will at least have to be learned curve by curve, right?
Instead it runs on August 8th, but the only day in which you can try for an hour and a half is the 4th, in the middle of the track tests, with others who are perhaps at the Tour of PolandThey told us that it's a city route and there are no other times. Or it seems that you will be able to see it on the same day and not even all of it, because there are some sections that will have open trafficMaybe they don't understand that medals and the safety of the riders are at stake?
Do the calendar and the various intersections also penalize your choices?
I'm having trouble with the team time trial, because some athletes have already said they won't do it. For example se Vittoria Guazzini he runs the Madison on the evening of the 7th, he cannot run the Mixed Relay the next day, considering that he then also has to do the individual one.
So will you ask someone for overtime or will you have to call in more?
I'll bring other athletes, who are equally strong and suited to a course like that. I had to name them early, otherwise we would have ended up going outside the UCI's regulations.
The other time trials?
Those are done at Stirling, 35 kilometers from GlasgowBeautiful, linear, countryside routes. You can do as many laps as you want. The women's race is also beautiful, even if it's on a different track than the pros. The only downside, if anything, is the distance, because anyway... Running 36 kilometers is a long distance for the girls, as is 22 kilometers for the juniors. But apart from that, nothing to say.
The finish is at the top of a steep climb, at Stirling Castle, with the road cobbled…
It won't be done hastily, because anyway It's a 7-800 meter climb, so you'll have to push hard.You can't think that the finish line is down there, you have to get to the top. At the foot of that last sector, you still have to raise because otherwise you'll get stuck and waste 20 seconds.
For someone like Ganna, is this an advantage or a disadvantage?
I see it as a plus for him too, because anyway Filippo when he is in shape he is capable of relaunching and sprinting. Just see what he did on Poggio at the end of the SanremoIf he wasn't brilliant on the climbs, he wouldn't have finished like that.
Besides Ganna, who did you consider? Affini, Sobrero, Cattaneo…
The names are those. Up sobrero I thought about it for a long time, because the first part is really fast, 48 kilometers in which the large gear will never be removed, and perhaps it's not exactly suitable. Edoardo (Allied Products, ed.) perhaps at this moment he could be affected by the work they are asking him to do Jumbo Visma and even if he didn't give up on the chrono issue, he probably managed to follow it less. Instead Cattaneo deserves consideration for what he did to the Italian championship.
What can be said about those bumps along the way?
They are light, they are not climbed. They are teeth to push, with the relationship and the hands on the prosthetics. There's no need to get up and raise the stakes, in short. They'll be at 3 percent, I wouldn't even call them tears, if anything they are depressions.
47,8 kilometers: can we get under an hour?
I really hope so, they will be timed at high speeds.
And the weather?
We are in an open field, perhaps passing through a small village of 500 inhabitants. If there's wind, you get it all from whatever direction it comes from.After the track races we'll have plenty of time to try and try again, but they're such simple roads that even with the barriers they don't change much. The real pain is the team time trialIn that case, knowing the curves helps you avoid getting hurt. And even us behind in the car, after a while we don't see them anymore. Do I have to drive them like on the PlayStation?
Last year we came second.
We believe in it and we want to do it well. So we will field the best women and men possible. Last year the girls were very good and allowed us to take a silver medal which still stings me.We absolutely have to improve it.
