"We have the red jersey," Tiberi says. "We're having a good Vuelta. Personally, however, things aren't going as well as I would have hoped. I had very different sensations than I expectedI was pretty calm in the first few days, because I've never felt great at the start of a stage race. I always need a few days to get into the swing of things. With the first serious uphill finish, I arrived with the first (In Andorra he finished 15th in the group of Vingegaard, Almeida, and Ciccone, ed.) I responded well to the attacks and had confirmation that I was improving. Instead, the next day, out of the blue, the candle went out., I found myself without energy."
The Vuelta rests in Pamplona, the city of Miguel Indurain. In the hotel of the Bahrain Victorious at 14,30 pm he spoke the race leader Traen Torstein, who with his story of cancer survivorship is a hero among heroes. In his room instead Tiberi is trying to understand the reason for an unexpected lapse. At the Giro it was the fall that did it out of the game, what happened in Spain?
How are you?
I'm a bit tired, I'm using the day to try to recover. Since the arrival of Cerler my whole Vuelta has changed, my approach has changedThe day before the data were correct, good and everything was normal, in fact even better. However, from the day after The numbers show that the body has started to suffer too much fatigueThe recovery wasn't the best. Even the relationship between the power I was able to express and the fatigue of my body, with the data and sensations, wasn't normal. It wasn't like usual, and it still isn't.
In what sense?
Even today, while going for a bike ride, I didn't feel like usual. I had the sensations of when the body starts asking to let off the gas a little..
It's September, and the season has been long. You were strong in Poland: is it possible you were already tired when you arrived at the Vuelta?
In my opinion, yes. At this point I would say not only in my opinion, because the data and sensations speak clearlyI arrived in Polonia feeling particularly well. Immediately afterward, I headed straight for the mountains, and as soon as I arrived in Sestriere, I felt sick for 2-3 days. I had a bit of nausea, a slight fever, and feelings of tiredness. I also remained at high altitude and perhaps I could have avoided it, because at high altitude recovery is less easy.This could also be a factor that played its part.
How do you react to altitude? Does it always give you good results?
It's a delicate matter, and it depends a lot on the individual. There are even those who don't believe in it. I feel the benefits, but beyond being at two thousand meters, it's the fact that you are with the team, isolated from any distractionsYou do your workouts, you have the masseur, the physiotherapist, the nutritionist. An environment that allows you to train 100 percentYou can take care of every little detail, so in my opinion it's more what makes the difference than the altitude itself. Then again, obviously, there are a thousand studies behind it, proving that even being at altitude is beneficial, but quantifying it is up to those who study certain things. One thing I've noticed.
What?
That maybe doing it too much could give some disadvantagesIf you don't add it at the right times during preparation, it can also make you too tired. However, at certain altitudes, the body is already under stress as such.
Can this life completely dedicated to training be tiring?
This, in my opinion, is one of the key points. Just as you always try to do your best, you also have to try not to go too far. We say that too much is bad, you have to find the right compromise.
Knowing you and given your feelings, what's happening in the next two weeks? Is there any way to save yourself?
The approach has changed. I no longer have to think about the general classification and all that it entailsThere's no longer the daily stress of having to recover as much as possible, paying attention to everything during the race, and not letting up even for a second. In this respect I can have more serenityMaybe it can help me regain some energy between now and the final week, which is still a while away. The goal is to get back to having good feelings and numbers., so that I can afford to go on the break and get a stage result.
You mentioned serenity: is there a risk of losing it when things go like this?
I would say no. I feel very calm with the teamBecause they know everything, they know what I've done, they see the numbers, and they understand the situation perfectly. So they're the first ones to not put any pressure on me at all. While I can live with external expectations. I know how sport works at this level and I know that there are always ups and downs.We are not machines, so it is normal that at the end of the season, after having started with retirements already in December, the body reaches a certain point and asks for a moment of recovery.
The previous question arose from this: six retreats in a year, averaging two weeks, aren't easy to absorb. And it's the pattern almost everyone follows these days.
Let's say that going on retreat is starting to become a bit too fashionableWe start for two weeks in December and then do another two in January. This year I did my first training camp on Teide in March, if I remember correctly. Another in April, the one before the Giro. In July before Poland and then the other one at Sestriere before the Return. I had already been away for Poland, a tough race where I drew a lot of my physical and mental energy. Perhaps at that moment, knowing I would be out for another three weeks of racing, it would have been more relaxing and better for recovery to go home for a few days.
