Only 33 years Diego Rose leave the road… but not cycling. The Piedmontese athlete will in fact switch, or rather return, to mountain biking. His old house. His first love. And as we all know: you never forget your first love.
Rosa defended, and officially defends until the end of the year, the colours of the Eolo-KometaHe raced with this team for two seasons. He defended himself well and this year at Tour of Italy he fought for a long time to wear the blue jersey of best climber.
Diego, how are you? How's this "new old" winter feeling?
Eh, I'm a little lost. A change of scenery is in order! But otherwise, everything is very similar. I go out to training, the preparation is more or less the same... the means of transport changes.
And how are you finding it?
Let's say that I picked up where I left off. I abandoned the mountain bike when the first full-suspension bikes arrived, I started riding again with a full-suspension bike. That time when I tried that type of bike, after a kilometer of downhill, I "pinched" the rear tire. And this time, after the first kilometer of downhill, I got a flat again. Despite the fluids and mousse... nothing changed! Jokes aside, With the 29" I have a bit of trouble turning on tight bends. Compared to the bikes of the past, they are bigger, but otherwise the guide has been greatly simplified.
Define simplified…
These bikes are very forgiving. If you made a mistake before, arrived too fast, or changed your mind when approaching a rock, for example, you were in trouble. With these bikes, however, you just ride over it. They allow you to correct, maybe the trajectory is not ideal, but you don't fall.
How are you working on it?
I started a few weeks ago, and from a technical standpoint, the setup isn't that simple. I used to have open or closed forks, but now I use an electronic one: you have to adjust the travel, the rebound, the pressure... and that's also why I haven't been doing many road training rides. Four out of six outings are on a mountain bike, I want to get used to this vehicle again. Maybe later I'll do half on-road and half off-road.
It's understandable…
And then every day something new comes to mind. I always go out and adjust something. In the early days, I used the old finger pressure method. And by constantly deflating, I'd gotten to 0.9 bar... a bit low! And in fact, I said to myself, "That's why I was getting flats!" So for now... I'm very focused on the setup.
You mentioned that the preparation is very similar, but is there anything different?
I had the same break as in other road seasons. So, three weeks of vacation, a very calm recovery week, and then the actual preparation. I definitely go to the gym more, especially for my upper body. I'd lost a lot of weight on the road over the years. That's weight you have to carry around, but here it's muscle you need. In training when I do long descents sometimes I have to stop. My arms and hands hurt... not to mention my shoulder blades. This is also why I prefer to go out on my mountain bike more.
Let's talk a little about the recent past. How did you feel about leaving the road?
Very lightly. I thought it would weigh more on me, but instead it was quiet. Having it already in perspective, it didn't bother me. If I hadn't already had a contract ready, however, I might have been depressed.
So this summer when you took part in the Dolomites Superbikes Did you already know you'd be back on the road?
No, no… I had already asked the team in February to participate in those couple of summer races. They coincided with a period away from road racing. True, I'd always said that the day I quit road racing, I'd spend a year on mountain biking, but at the time, I still didn't imagine it would happen this year.
Is there something that didn't work?
Let's say that There were a few communication issues with the team. I would have done another year, but maybe that was my luck.
Why?
Io I was capable of continuing and I believed I still had a season ahead of me. And to be honest, I had also had some good offers from WorldTour teams. I didn't want to change teams. Everything seemed fine, but then when they told me they wouldn't renew my contract, it was too late. I didn't want to go back and ask the person who made me an offer with my tail between my legs... It pissed me off a bit. But that's okay: at 33, I'm fine with myself, and I'm fine with the way I am now.
For your part, do you think you've made any mistakes, that you've always given 100 percent?
With hindsight, something can always be done better. but if I went back I would do exactly what I did and therefore make the same possible mistakes. Yes, there were some rest periods in between the season, but when I had to be a rider I did it 100 percent. Yes, I would do it all again.
Let's get back to mountain biking: do you already know what your schedule will be?
We should 99 percent start with the Andalucia Bike Race (an important mountain bike stage race, ed.) and then do the major races on the Italian calendar. I would also really like to do the World Cup, which should also return to the marathon. Or at least take part in the Marathon Series trials, that is, the most important international races. Let's see theUCI what will he let us know.
