Andrea Morelli looks around. The cycling manager of the Mapei Center he followed the Tour and the Giro, meditating for a long time on the performance of such young athletes.
«Apart from someone like Ganna who I have always known – he says – and who when we saw him as a junior was on Cancellara's level, I am amazed by the holding capacity of the youngest in the third week. Endurance is built over time. You have to have talent, obviously, then work strengthens you. So seeing Pogacar do that time trial on the penultimate day really amazed me."
Here we go. Notebook. Questions. Some references to what they told us. Bartoli e Guercilena. And a flow of thoughts that barely needs to be fueled by a few observations.
It's not just Pogacar. Evenepoel, Almeida, Hindley, Geoghegan Hart…
I don't know Remco, but I know Almeida wellI followed him until he turned professional. Together with Oliveira and Guerreiro, they were part of the Portuguese national team program, which had turned to the Center to give them a hand. to escape from overly Portuguese logicOliveira played a world-class pursuit with Ganna, so to speak. They were riding for Axel Merckx and we followed their programming. All strong. With them was also Geoghegan Hart, very good too.
What does their precocity depend on?
The continentals they raced in as kids are going strong, so much so that some WorldTour teams have had to struggle when they met them. I don't really believe in the national schools thing; it seems like a fairy tale to me. It's possible that strong athletes will emerge, but At the Tour we saw something great in front of the best in the world.
Depends on what?
Competitiveness certainly has an impact. They are highly motivated and never give up.They manage to handle pressure better, perhaps because they were born on social media and don't care what people say. They push the issue and attack from afar. This can disadvantage the more composed athlete.They have a very strong character. It's not easy to go for three weeks at full speed.
So also a tactical explanation?
Luca Guercilena told me about their Simmons, who has the tendency to attack 40 kilometers from the finish, like when he was a junior. Maybe they'll sign him, but in the meantime the pace of the race changes abruptly. The way of running has changed a lot.
Could someone pay for it?
Nibali is one of the few who has maintained the classic timing, using races to prepare. Over the years, we've often seen him in the back and then come forward when needed. I thought the same would happen this year, but no.
What do you think?
It's fair to say he paid for Covid, even though he maintained his large volumes of work. While someone like Jacopo Mosca, who we follow directly, couldn't go out and had to work hard on the rollers. The lockdown has reduced volumes and some may have benefited from it in terms of recovery and freshness.
Others, however, have suffered it.
Of course, standing still for a long time is uncomfortableThe intensity of the race was missing and maybe the younger ones have benefited from it thanks to the elasticity of the organism, while the more experienced athlete needs volume and graduality. Nibali has this approach, using races to manage his schedule and, out of habit and structure, he must complete a certain number of races. But if the races go crazy...
What do you mean?
Calendar and habits. The arrival of Sky (now Ineos-Grenadiers, ed.) changed everything. They always come to win And it's not easy to stay in a group when the ones leading are athletes who would be captains anywhere else. Others have adapted, like Jumbo. The level is very high, you can't handle it, and that doesn't train you much. Consider the tight schedule for 2020, and it's clear that perhaps confusion has arisen in managing workloads.
Does this explain Nibali's Stelvio victory?
The incredible thing about the Stelvio was Rohan Dennis. If Nibali broke away it's because his threshold was lower than the Australian's valuesBut those performances left us all speechless.
Do you think that riders who are so strong when they are young will have shorter careers?
If they got there the right way, they'll continue to do so. I don't think they can be like gymnasts, who burn out in a few years. It's an endurance sport, you can build on it., if they can keep their heads straight, manage money, entertainment, and social media. Then you make the difference on the bike.
Are they the result of someone's good work?
Any boy you put to work properly bears fruit. You don't have to push the timing. There was a compromise to be reached with Merckx, because he trains hard and the schedule in America was very tough. But if they respect the weights and training hygiene, they will continue to perform well in the future. Whether they happen again is another story..
Instead here?
They reach professionalism with few margins and this wears them downYou have to stay focused all the time, even just to be super-talented. And if you then pass this stress on to the students, what do they do when they pass?
Yet there is a rush to pass.
Prosecutors are trying to… sell athletes as students, at least they block them immediately. At this point the teams make them sign, with the approval of some parents who think they have the Cristiano Ronaldo of cycling at home. Instead, until the age of twenty, sport should be seen as fun. Even a reluctant professional doesn't earn a living. Perhaps all this doesn't exist abroad.
Isn't it just a matter of sticking to the tables and everything will be fine?
The Anglo-Saxon method, which emphasizes only power, is wrong for me. It's difficult to have a very sophisticated structure in a local team, but that's fine. Because As a kid you have to know your body and how it feels in response to training.Maybe you make some mistakes, but you learn. And maybe at 22, when you go fishing for resources everywhere, you discover you have room for growth.
