Over-revving and deteriorating condition. Starting from what happened in Giulio Pellizzari al Tour of Italy, with Pino Toni, one of the coaches we often turn to to analyze topics related to preparation, we shine the spotlight on this aspect of sports physiology.
In fact, in hindsight, Pellizzari's Giro ended after his overrev at Blockhaus. The athlete from Red Bull-Bora he replied to Vingegaard, only to later pay the price. Could it be that, with his condition no longer so solid, that overrevving was the final straw? Could it be that in a three-week race he can't recover? This indirectly leads to the question of whether the approach to the Giro was truly ideal.
Pino, Pellizzari clearly arrived at the Giro in declining condition. He made that overrev at Blockhaus, and from there, what happened happened…
It's not easy to answer. It's not just about that overrevving. You have to get closer, work, activate based on your recovery times. It's the whole preparation process. And when the condition drops, it's not just the revving that decreases.
But he must have worked on the over-revving, we imagine?
You have two ways to train for intense phases. Do short intervals, even harder than your limits, with extended recovery times. Or work at slightly lower intensities, perhaps around 7 watts/kilogram, but keeping recovery times as short as possible.Today, artificial intelligence tells you how long it will take for you to recover. As always, we need to know his actual, current data. From what I can tell, when we had him at Bardiani in 2022, Giulio had very good numbers, but not exceptional in terms of recovery. But some time has passed since then. He was also very young.
But is it possible that, with his condition declining and a less solid base, his physique could no longer support these outbursts? From the end of the Tour of the Alps There were 40 days left until the end of the Giro. Maybe the TotA isn't the best approach anymore. We see that the top riders prefer to train and then show up for the race they're aiming for.
Of course. Although I don't think they made certain mistakes. If anything, we need to see what he did in between. Because if he went to high ground and ended up there, it might not be the best. After what he had done to the Tour of the Alps He could have stayed home, in the warmth, to recover. At altitude, just because of the altitude, recovery is slower due to the lack of oxygen.
Could that have been a bad move in your opinion?
It always depends on what he did. Of course, saying it now, the answer is yes... but because the Giro went the way it did. In my opinion the main issue is not the condition but it's another one.
That?
That he gave in head first. After the ease shown to the Tour of the Alps, or at the Valenciana, and after the first signs with Vingegaard at the Giro, maybe he had made a film. A film that didn't come trueThere were more than a few moments when it seemed like the Giro was just him and Vingegaard. Then, when he realized he couldn't be where he wanted to be, he stalled. Frankly, I was surprised that he skipped it like that, too. It was a disappointment for him. When he says, "I don't want any memories of this Giro. I want to burn it all away," it's clear he's been hurt. That something didn't go right. And in my opinion, he also handled his off day poorly.
Do you mean Carì?
Yes, and it was handled poorly there. A difficult day happens. You have to be aware that you could lose ground that day and you have to try to limit the damage as much as possible. You always have to remember that you're running in a 21-day economy. When I say you're handling it poorly, I mean, you persist in chasing or, like he did, you give up. Managing a crisis day is crucial for those who are ranking. Maybe if it happens on a flat day, you'll be lucky and manage to hide it, but if it happens on a climb, you have little to hide. And in cycling today you always mask badly, because everyone goes very fast. The thing that struck me most about that day was that they had put the team to shoot.
So were there any problems?
I don't think they even spoke. You can't have a crisis like that: it's not just about fitness, assuming it is. Or you did something wrong, but I don't think so, because he's been a professional for five years and has a great team. I can focus on nutrition. Today the most important thing is to never forget to eat. For the rest, there's nothing else to do, just pedal. Could it be a bluff? But on a long, steep climb, what do you bluff about? If you get the team to push and then stop, the others realize something's wrong.
Pino, let's get back to talking about fitness and over-revving. We often heard coach Villa say it was important for the quartet to cover a lot of ground and compete in many road races, because they served as a great base for the more intense and demanding work...
First of all, it must be said that these are completely different efforts. The quartet's efforts are intense, violent. Not 7 watts/kilo. But then you stop. On the road, especially in certain stages, if you go flat out for four minutes, the race isn't over. We're talking more about fatigue management and recovery than basics. In the end, they prepared a Giro, I suppose that was the case. And even the days of racing before weren't too many: 21 until the Giro.
Pellizzari started at Valenciana…
And he's done four one-day races. The Milan-Turin is fine for someone like him, but the Strade Bianche is a bit less so, because it's one thing to be fast as a junior, and another to race it as a professional. Maybe they could have saved him the 300 kilometers of the Sanremo, but after the Classicissima Giulio hasn't run for over a month. So they knew he would then stop and have time to recover.
