"If you throw a high-level athlete into the mix," says Gianluca Carretta seriously, "because you normally push for the recovery of top athletes, you risk achieving the opposite effect. Even top athletes, if they're not in good condition, struggle at the current pace. So the risk is to put stress on an organism that is already under stress. Because he has already suffered those of trauma and those of a hasty recoveryWhen this happens, the body reacts and it's normal for failures to occur. A gradual and correct recovery is definitely better. even more so in cycling today where they always go full speed ahead».
The missing champions
Gianluca Carretta (opening the race wearing the white jersey alongside Cassani, Morini, and Nibali) is one of the most experienced osteopaths to have worked in the cycling world. It has helped the recovery of dozens of athletes: those of the teams he worked with and also those who showed up at his clinic in Parma. And now that he has left the world of teams and practices the profession in his own office, he has passed the baton to his son Matteo, recently added to the staff of XDS-AstanaWe involved him to give a measure to the failure of athletes to return to full efficiency such as Froome, Bernal, Alaphilippe, Martha CavalliThe champions who from 2019 onwards, following rather serious injuries, they returned to the group without ever finding their level againDoes it depend on the type of accident, the rush to recover, or the current cycling scene that doesn't forgive you for a year-long hiatus while you try to rebuild?
«There is injury and injury "Carretta nods. If I break my femur, once the bone is back in place and I've recovered my leg muscles, the job is done. If you look at my shoulder and perhaps find ligament or tendon injuries, things get a little more complicated." Another story is to suffer multiple traumas like those suffered by Froome and BernalI don't know their medical history well, I read about it in the newspapers, but the concept remains. When we talk about multiple trauma, that is, you have various fractures and maybe go next to the spine, as happened with Bernal, it is clear that things get complicated."
Is the spine the real difference maker?
It potentially goes next to the central nervous system and the autonomic nervous system. Let's not forget that the spine means nerve plexuses that manage movements, but it also means lateral vertebral nerve plexuses that manage visceral physiological activity, which allows recoveryIf recovery processes are affected, the body's functionality is significantly affected.
It's said that top athletes are also phenomenal at recovering quickly. Has Gianluca Carretta ever had to force his hand in his career?
They are young guys, who have very quick recovery times, but there are criteria to respect. The time dedicated to recovery depends on the teamI've been in groups that always respected the times, without ever applying too much pressure. If not the last time, but by mutual agreement with the athlete, when the decision was made to push the times. I'm referring to at the 2018 Tour where Nibali suffered a compression fracture of a vertebra.
There was a lot of talk about the type of surgery, precisely to speed up his recovery, given that the World Championships in Innsbruck seemed perfect for him…
It was done an attempt at a quick recovery, to allow him to also race the VueltaI remember that I even ended up in a bit of a controversy, because I let slip something to a journalist, who wrote it down. I said that we had tried to recover quickly, not respecting the correct timesIt was true, but there was a bit of a stir within the team. We did it by mutual agreement, because Vincenzo was aware of all the risks.He wanted to go to the Vuelta, so within a month he was fit to return, although a compression fracture of a vertebra normally requires a little more patience.
Did it work?
Vincenzo was put back in condition to race the Vuelta, but clearly not in optimal athletic condition and things went as they did. In that case, there was actually some pressure applied. Apart from that, I haven't had to deal with any major injuries. Cancellara comes to mind at the 2015 Tour, when he was wearing the yellow jersey. He also fractured two or three vertebrae, but less seriously than Vincenzo. In that case, there was not too much pressure, also because with Luca Guercilena certain deadlines were respected.Or I remember Michele Bartoli's broken pelvis at the 2002 Giro, but we respected the times.
Evenepoel returned to racing at the Giro d'Italia seven months after his crash at the 2020 Giro d'Italia, but found his level too high and had to retire. Bernal returned and stopped several times. Wouldn't it be better to return when you're truly fit?
On this point, you'll find an open door with me. In my opinion. it is wrong to rush the process of dealing with certain injuries, unless it is a trivial injury.
Translate banal?
When Lance Armstrong returned to racing, shortly before the 2009 Giro he broke his collarbone in a small race in Spain, if I remember correctly (in the first stage of the Vuelta Castilla y Leon, ed.). He underwent surgery, a titanium plate was placed on his collarbone and after three days he was on his bike.With the plate, the broken clavicle was stronger than the other: that is a trivial accident.
For the more complex ones?
For a performance athlete it is definitely better return to competition when he is physiologically fully recovered, both from a bone and functional point of viewHe needs to regain his fitness, so rushing the pace means over-stressing his body. I repeat: especially in this type of cycling, which doesn't allow for slow paces. I'm always of the opinion that it's better to respect physiologySo, if you ask me whether I agree with a fast recovery or a slow, physiological recovery, I definitely choose the latter.
