And then there is the July of those who are not at Tour de France. The Grande Boucle clearly takes all the spotlight, but there's a lot of cycling behind it and in many cases also of good quality. Corratec-Selle Italia of the sports director Francesco Frassi, for example, she is busy in China for the Tour of Qinghai Lake.
So July is not a month to throw away. Opportunities are there and they shouldn't be wasted.For many teams, it's actually a potential month of redemption. Perhaps they could take advantage of some distractions from the top teams as they go all-in on the Tour. Attilio Viviani yesterday he was third in the first fraction.
A full July
"We're here in China," Frassi says, "and just returning after Covid is a good result. This is a pretty demanding race: eight stages between 2.000 and 4.000 meters. A challenging trip for the staff, too. For example, we've organized ourselves with mobile kitchens. The food issue is a bit of a delicate matter here. For example, meat and proteins in general are not touched.. The meat may be contaminated with clenbuterol."
Frassi explains how Corratec-Selle Italia has been busy on at least two fronts these past months, plus the guys scattered around the hills.
«In July we are racing here in China, others finished the Sibiu Tour yesterday, on the 23rd we are racing in Romania, the Cupa Max Ausnit, where among other things nearby there is a large Corratec headquarters and from there we will move to the Sazka Tour in the Czech Republic". It's a lot of work. All things considered, it's as if the team, including the sporting director, ran two more Giro d'Italias, one in July and one in July.
Month of programming
But July is also the month of planning. We're running, but we're also building. Twelve out of twenty athletes are running.
«True – Frassi continues – this is also a month of planning. But today it's not easy. It's not easy for the WorldTour teams, let alone for us, the smaller teams. I see that even they, except for the captains who have known what they'll do since January, make last-minute adjustments. For example, I was reading about sobrero, changed for the Tour a few days before the startAs far as we're concerned, we often wait for the races we're participating in to reveal the exact routes for our teams.
«We try to plan for a month or 40 days from now. In August we will do a little less, while between September and October we are even expecting some cases of triple activity."
Towards September
Meanwhile Frassi waits again, Valerio Conti. The Lazio native, during a night out in Brescia, broke his pelvis again... but on the other side. Incredible. A person had crossed the street. Valerio had dodged, but the others couldn't manage it and pulled him down.
"We're trying to put together a program for him too," Frassi concludes. "But first, he'll have to get back on the bike. We hope he can do it in about ten days, so we can have him by the end of September or the beginning of October."
«Then there are the others. Whoever failed to take a good leg away from the Giro in June has recovered and went to high altitude, almost all between Livigno and Stelvio, and now he's running. While the others who pushed ahead in this first part of July are at higher altitudes. Almost all of our riders were at their first experience of a major Giro, and it was predictable that they would pay a bit for it."
