It's understandable that, looking ahead to the Paris Olympics, each coach wants the best athletes for himself. Therefore, It is understandable that Monday Marco Villa has stiffened in front of the hypothesis, just whispered, that Elisa Balsam can be diverted to the road or taken to do both road and track. In reality, Diego Bragato, head of the FCI performance sector, he explained in a simple and effective way and the double commitment is a big risk: two days to recover are not enoughSo if the possibility has long been ruled out for Ganna and Milan, we'll have to think about it for the women too. The quartet is a peculiar and ruthless construction. Imagining having one of the athletes in less than perfect condition gives me the shivers. On the other hand, depriving the road of a world champion (let's leave Chiara Consonni out of the discussion so as not to add fuel to the fire) would be a hard blow for Sangalli.
Since each coach wants the best athletes for himself, the distribution of the Azzurri will not be left to individual evaluations, but will see the team manager Roberto Amadio in the role of the mediatorAnd since we're talking about the Olympics, CONI will also have its say, and it's clear that the criteria are different from those of the World and European Championships. We're rightly thinking in terms of medals, so at a certain point, reasons of state will prevail over the personal ambitions of technicians and athletes. Therefore, to enrich the point of view and give it further depth, we addressed the issue with Amadio.
So Roberto, what do we do?
The technical evaluation between men and women is different, you're right. Even the way women's races are interpreted is different from the men's. There is a much greater chance that a small group will arrive without the clear-cut selection that might occur among men.Partly because of the distance, partly because of the route, partly because of the phenomena we're seeing right now that could ignite the race at any moment. With women, it's different, but I think it's still too early to imagine scenarios. Because there are still some classics that can offer inspiration. And above all, I'm convinced that It must be the athlete who expresses his belief that he can do well, what his ambition isSo we'll see, these are different situations that we'll evaluate.
We imagine this is a complex assessment.
Enough. La Federation and consequently the CONI They will also evaluate based on how many chances we have of winning a medal In one specialty rather than another. This is crystal clear and cuts to the chase. For now, however, I'd say we should wait, give ourselves some more time, and let the Classics, which I'm closely monitoring, pass by, imagining what situations might potentially arise in Paris. Given the course, I imagine that once again the Olympics will feature cross-country athletes..
Is it complicated to keep the various sectors balanced?
In reality, the real problem here is the UCI's way of working. First they talk about multi-discipline and then they do everything they can to ensure that it cannot be put into practice at the Olympics.If the road test had been five days earlier or a week earlier, all these problems would not have occurred. The interaction between sectors works and the proof is Milan, Ganna, Consonni and all the girls who do track and win on the roadBut you can't undermine one specialty or the other because a calendar is drawn up that makes it impossible to do both. Especially the men, how can they compete in a team pursuit two days after a 290-kilometer race, knowing they have to run 3:43”–3:44” in qualifying to be among the top four? That's the issue.
The Tokyo calendar was actually better, but starting from the last World Championships in Glasgow, things changed for the worse…
In fact, the problem is not the IOC's, but the UCI's.
Could the Federation have opposed this calendar when it came out?
You know how they do it, right? They take out the calendar when it has been approved and it is impossible to change it.
Can you imagine having a meeting with all the technicians to address the topic?
I've already had two meetings together where we've made decisions. I'll have another soon, where we'll take stock of Paris, the World Cup, and the European Championships. I always have meetings together with everyone, because everyone is involved anyway., given the type of athletes we have, especially in track, road, and time trials. Then there are additional complications regarding registration and participation in the Olympics. They reduced all the specialties by one unit to stay within the number of athletes, so if in Tokyo we had five athletes competing and one out who could take over, in Paris we have four competing plus one available. So in the end we are penalised because we have a higher number of athletes.It's not easy, I've been struggling for days to figure out how to fit everything together.
Of course, it's not easy to put yourself in the shoes of individual coaches, who have to give up potentially competitive athletes...
I understand them, but I want to reiterate that for the Olympics, unlike the World Cup and the European Championships, where the technicians make their specific evaluations, choices are made for the good of the national team, the Federation and CONIThis must also be understood by the public. Evaluations will be made with precise logic, and we will take responsibility for them. Whether it goes well or badly, we're used to it. If things go well, someone else will get the credit. If they don't, we know who's to blame.. But that's honestly the least of my problems.
