There is that sentence A statement from a WorldTour sports director to Paolo Rosola during the Adriatica Ionica Race resonates in my head. "I have riders who earn 300 euros a year and are lazy, those guys. They haven't been paid for three months and yet you can see the anger on their faces. which is needed to become a rider."
Is it just anger? Years ago, in an interview talking about Pozzato, Cancellara said that Pippo did his best when he was angry and had something to prove, so it was just a fleeting drive. So... What has inspired the Gazprom-RusVelo guys so far?
We asked Marina Romoli, first athlete and graduate in psychology. And she proposed to add to the meeting also Giovanni Carboni, like her from the Marche region and directly involved in the discussion. It was born like this a spectacular round table, which allowed us to avoid clichés and provided answers to the questions. The writer remained in a corner for a long time, leaving the microphone to them.
To make reading more enjoyable, we decided to break the article into two partsThe second will be published tomorrow, also at 9:30.
Teide, first the disbelief
ROME: «What did you feel at the beginning, when it all started and you couldn't run anymore? Was it anger or disappointment? First of all I would like to understand where you started from, to get to where you are now... ".
CARBONI: «It was a very strange situation. We were in a team that gave us 100 percent. When everything happened, I was on Teide with Conci and ZakarinIt had already been two weeks, something I had never done before. The training data was remarkable and I said to myself every day: “See, it’s working?” I had my mind set on Tirreno-Adriatico and Catalunya. I was in a state of maximum well-being…From one day to the next, suddenly, I went from these thoughts to not knowing what to doI was incredulous, it seemed absurd to me. I spent the first two weeks thinking that one way or another it would be resolved. Then suddenly I began to realize what it really was, that nothing was going to start again at all."
ROME: «So you passed by from a state of confusion, to a phase of big questions... ".
CARBONI: «I've always been an optimist. At the beginning there was a state of confusion, but I tried to think positively... "
Tyrrhenian Sea, the days of collapse
ROME: «What was the moment when you realized that wouldn't the situation have been resolved so quickly?».
CARBONI: «The week of the Tirreno-Adriatico, while the others ran and we were left outside. It was around March 12th. That week I also got sick, I was forced to stay still and it was the lowest moment of these five years as a professionalI realized that the war wasn't going away. Everyone said it had to end quickly, but it didn't. When I started riding my bike again, the condition went from the beautiful one of Teide to very strange sensationsIt's been a tough two weeks. I felt real despair, to wonder why I was riding a bike and what the point was. And why I ended up in a situation like this. They all happen to me..."
ROME: «You think you are also ill due to a psychological issue, for all the situations you were facing?
CARBONI: «In my opinion, yes, it was a combination of things. That week in the Marche it was very cold and I came from Teide where it was warm. I spent a few days without training too much, then I told myself it was time to start again, because I would definitely go back to running. So I did a couple of long workouts, even though there was no need, but to relieve nervesOne day I drank water for an hour, when it must have been 4 degrees, and two days later I got sick. It was the middle of winter, we were exhausted and thin, our immune defenses low. Nervous and stress on top of that and it was all a mix».
ROME: «So when you couldn't race the Tirreno-Adriatico which was your first real goal of the season, you realized the situation that is still current. At that moment, were you more angry or disappointed? Can you distinguish between the two?
CARBONI: "So much disappointmentI found myself going from the stars to the stables without being able to do anything about it. On a bike you can vent and transform anger into a positive drive. But when you don't run and you have a situation as big as a war ahead of you, who do you get angry at? With the institutions it is a losing battle."
Sicily, the reaction begins
ROME: «How did you do it? turn the negative into positive, since you then achieved victory? How did you transform disappointment in desire for redemption? Did you get any psychological help? Did you talk to your classmates? When did the turning point come and you said to yourself: "Now I know the problem, I have to find a solution?"
CARBONI: «At first, family members, friends and even the physiotherapist helped me I advised that I see a psychologist to help me think differently.I have always thought that a mental coach is important, but since I am stubborn, I decided I had to do it on my ownI did the Coppi and BartaliI held on, but I knew the feeling wasn't the best. I was fine, but even in Sicily I felt strange, I felt like something was missing. At that point I drew a line. I analyzed the fact that I've always been strong after the Giro d'Italia. I looked at what races I could do and saw that in June there was the possibility of doing the Adriatica Ionica and the Italian championship and I told myself: I can't give up nowIt was April, a month and a half to go. I knew what to do. I turned disappointment into rationality».
A bubble of favorable conditions
ROME: «You have set yourself some intermediate objectives... »
CARBONI: «I had a time frame in which to workI had the confidence I'd had in years past. Mentally, I was sure I'd be back on track within a month, and I started working, no longer worrying about the bureaucratic side of things. I no longer thought about ACCPI and CPA—a lot of talk, little action—I started being practical. With the help of Marco Benfatto and Maurizio Mazzoleni who followed us in the preparationThe fact that we had such a close relationship with Scaroni and Malucelli also helped a lot. I shared many training sessions especially with “Malu”. All this has created a bubble of favorable conditions After two months without racing, we were able to get back to the Adriatica Ionica, working alone at home. Because it's one thing to be away from the races, but on a training camp with the team. It's another to be at home alone."
bike.PRO: «In the days of the Tirreno, however, he arrived the call-up to the national teamHow much did the opportunity to run count? And how much did the relationship that was created between you count, being a team without having a team? '.
CARBONI: «In my opinion, the difference for everyone was made by seeing that by working well, one achieved a resultFor those who run, the result repays the work done. And if one of us could get there, the other could too.This team strength has been created that motivates you. Seeing that we were all in the same boat and rowing in the same direction».
Bennati's trust
ROME: "Was It's important that the national team and Bennati believed in you. and made you run. It wasn't just any team, you ran with the national team jerseyAnd I know how much that shirt does on a moral and responsibility level. There had been someone who believed in you... ".
CARBONI: «That shirt and seeing Bennati and all the staff there for us, made us a team. It was the point that made us turn the corner and made us a team more than what we wereMaybe with Gazprom we could have achieved more results, but we would have been less of a team. The national team made us a team that has tied us together and still ties us together».
The second part of the article will be published tomorrow, also at 9,30 am.
