ROME – Francesco Busatto's first Giro, in his second year in the WorldTour, has the good taste of Tirana's fourth place on the day of the debut, also accompanied by the first yellow cardIn those early days of the race, it was as if the officials in charge of warnings wanted to make it clear who was in charge and then, once the message had been conveyed, they calmed down. At 22 years old and with a trolley full of hopes, the man from Vicenza is left for the pink race without knowing too much about what to expect, but curious to find out.
What did you expect from the first Giro?
Actually, just finishing it would have been a good goal. Being the first, I arrived in the race with the prospect of coming out better and in my opinion it went very well.I managed to get a good result in the first stage and then I stood out a bit in the last week. I was also a little surprised that even though I was really tired, I still had legs. to do itBut in the end it's like this for everyone, but I personally had never tried it.
How would you describe the struggle of waking up every day, dealing with sore legs, and setting goals?
It almost becomes routine. It's the first few pedal strokes at the start of the stage where you really feel a lot of leg pain., but you're forced to follow the others and then, kilometer after kilometer, you start to feel better and better. In the end you discover that you have legs, so it's a common struggle for everyone and it's really a lot of work (smiles, ed.).
Was there a moment when you were about to give up?
No, but there was a moment when I was in a lot of difficulty after the second fallI didn't have much trouble finishing the next stages, let's say the ones immediately after. But I started to sleep badly, resting well became very demanding and there the effort was mainly mentalBut I managed to get through this too, and if something like this were to happen again in the future, I know I have to hold on, because a Grand Tour is long and anything can happen.
Do you develop a special relationship with your teammates during these 21 days?
Il Line of Business unites. We are a team and we are all in the same boat, the effort is for everyoneWe help each other and this creates a nice atmosphere of friendship.
Was there a day during the Giro when you saw a nice Busatto?
Certainly in the first stage, where I found a good level that I struggled to achieve in the previous weeks. In short, after a difficult start to the season, that fourth place gave me a lot of motivation and the awareness that these are periods that we continually go through. So we mustn't give up mentally, but we must hold on because sooner or later we'll get out of this.
In April, you didn't seem very optimistic about your immediate future. Was it enough to get back on track with some good training?
I think we finally found it the right balance between training and rest and this has given me a whole new lease of lifeAnd then I had a good time at high altitude in the Sierra Nevada, where I never had any kind of ailment, no flu. Everything went smoothly and this also allowed me to find an excellent condition.
So is it true that the Grand Tour makes the engine grow?
In my opinion, yes, both for a physical and a mental issueYou get used to struggling every day.
It's said that to keep going for so long you need to avoid unnecessary waste of energy: is this really true?
I don't actually think I've ever done anything extreme. In the end, you always go full speed ahead and every stage seems like a one-day race, as if there were no tomorrow.. So what others do, you do too because you are forced to. In this way you also begin to take a certain way of running that isn't exactly economical, let's say, but it certainly gives you another condition.
The schedule now includes two events in mid-June: the Grosser Preis des Kantons Aargau on June 13th and the Giro dell'Appennino on the 24th. We'll then see what effect the Giro will have on the young rider from Bassano. The feeling, meeting him at the end of the journey, is that he is already a little olderPerhaps in a few months Francesco will discover that his legs have changed too, but in the meantime his gaze and the essentiality of his words say that the boy is growing up. And perhaps for get back to getting the results he had when he was an under-23 it really took so much effort.
