Al Tour of Langkawi The Italian component is not that small. There are various teams, various riders involved and some of them even distinguished themselves, we think above all of the boys of the Green Project – Bardiani, driven by Mirko Rossato.
In Malaysia Enrico Zanoncello he came close to victory, He was the leader for a day, and the very young Conforti and Scalco also did well... But overall, it can be said that the entire Green Project was lively. Sometimes, perhaps, even making a few mistakes, but always in the thick of the action. We discussed all this with sports director Rossato.
Mirko, we were saying an active Green Project…
I would say yes. We were unlucky with Luca Covili that on the day of Genting Highlands (arrival at altitude, ed.) he punctured. And the same with the young man Matteo Scalco who had a fever the night before that stage. He also did good things Lorenzo Conforti. Zanoncello came close to winning. We were coming from the Tour of Taihu Lake, in China, and we had also ridden well there.
We've seen your athletes finish in the top ten, if not the top five, more than once. Since this happened repeatedly, was it a team order?
It has been repeated several times because the synchronizations are not yet optimal. Davide Gabburo, for example, was supposed to lead the sprint to Zanoncello, but then he lost his wheels. One of them would launch him to the right and the other would exit to the left, and they would finish fourth and sixth. The same thing with Conforti. Let's also assume that Lorenzo is a young man: he launched the sprint, but then wanted to hold on until the finish lineLet's not forget that until last year he was a junior.
Absolutely, the Tuscan is doing well…
What he's doing is good. One day he launched Zanoncello into the big time. He took the final bend in the lead and then held on to the finish, sprinting for 600 metres. That day they finished second and sixth.
Seeing that the sprint placings were a recurring theme, we thought of a Green Project chasing points.
No, there aren't many points up for grabs in the stages. If anything, the ones for the final classification count more. But that wasn't our goal in those sprints.
You've brought a team that's a mix of young and experienced players. "Expert" in inverted commas, given their age. Scalco and Conforti are the two "kids," Tarozzi is the middle ground, and then the "old" players Covili, Zanoncello, and Gabburo...
It's kind of the same thing I did at the Tour of Taihu Lake. I had three first-year riders there. Here, in place of Paletti, who returned to Italy to prepare for cyclocross, there's Covili. But Overall, I'm happy with my young players. More or less everyone put in 45 days of competition. and for a first year it's fine.
Conforti in particular stood out. He's had some truly excellent finishes. In Malaysia alone, he finished four top 10s in the first four stages, and also finished second in China. What kind of rider is he?
He's a fast rider, but not a sprinter. I see it holds up well on short climbs. For me, it's a classic. Next year he could be among the absolute protagonists of the under 23 category. He's mean, he's got the right attitude... There aren't many who know how to move like that in a group and in sprints at that age (we're talking about a 2004 class player, ed.).
You said earlier that you wanted to try to rank with Scalco, another 2004, we thought you'd do it with Covili...
Covili was beyond doubt; I took it for granted. He was our man for the overall, but it wasn't easy. Here in Malaysia, there was only one uphill finish and a slightly hillier stage, the rest all flat. It's a shame because on the hardest stage, halfway up the climb, he got a puncture. I also wanted to try with Scalco, more than anything to see how far he could get, to get him to think about holding on, to be careful every day. Unlike Conforti, I see him in stage races.
Last question Mirko, what did you think of the average level, and therefore of your team's performance, in this Langkawi?
It's an eight-day stage race, and that's a lot. It means a lot to these guys. The average level is very good and I would say quite high as far as sprinters are concerned. I'm a former sprinter and I always have an eye for fast wheels. I've seen some very interesting guys, like this one. George Jackson, very strong. In fact, for me, the strongest. Former track cyclist, tall, with Cipollini-style hair… Moreover, his team, Bolton, has no sponsor for next year: taking him on would be an opportunity. And then there are… De Klein of the Tudor, Port of the Caja Rural… in short, many really interesting profiles.
