SPASIBO (RUSSIA). Federico Pellegrino and Francesco De Fabiani thank them and are ready today to make their seasonal debut in the Cross-Country Skiing World Cup in Ruka. We start today with a sprint in classic (12.30 final stages on Raisport and Eurosport) and the two Valle d’Aosta immediately want to make use of the training sessions of all summer and autumn in the Russian group coordinated by the German coach Markus Cramer. A courageous choice, which arrived last spring with the approval of the Fisi and the federal president Flavio Roda: the firm idea in mind is to put body and soul to get on the Olympic podium next February in Beijing.
After the silver at PyeongChang 2018 in the less congenial (classic) technique, Chicco Pellegrino tries to return to those much-desired steps also in the free technique sprint to be held on the Chinese snow, knowing full well that the direct opponent will be the Norwegian Johannes Klaebo . For this, he has decided to “ally” with two of his historical Russian rivals in the fastest race such as Gleb Retivykh and Sergey Ustiugov. «I trained a lot more than in previous years, but in a more fluid and less stressful way. Once I discovered this way of working, I think I would hardly go back to what I did in the past – explains Pellegrino -. Cramer taught me the importance of simple things, I needed them, without getting too fixated on the training program like I did before. This summer was really a wonderful experience and we worked very well as a group to improve individually ». How do you charge Nus’s policeman on the road? “I like reading historical novels, especially in winter, and even from there I try to get inspiration for my races”. The strategy, on the other hand, is one of its strong points.
And with the right tactical acumen, Francesco De Fabiani also wants to leave his mark again, who, in addition to teaming up with Pellegrino in the sprint team (together they won the bronze medal in 2019), also aims for results in the distance. Already the first weekend on the Finnish snow offers him two opportunities in this sense on Saturday (15 km in classic technique) and Sunday (15 km free technique pursuit).
«First of all I hope to start well in order to have morale too, then the focus will certainly be on the Tour de Ski, let’s say that a Top 10 in the standings would give me satisfaction. Clear that the stage of Lago di Tesero, the 15 km in classic is my race and I would like to finally try to win after two consecutive second places – explains the twenty-eight year old from the Army -. Then, there will be the Olympic Games in Beijing, where I hope to do well in the 15km, also aiming for team, sprint and relay races, which I really like. The 50 km will be skating, but despite this, I hope to be competitive also on that occasion ». In short, both Chicco and De Fast can’t wait to dye the snows all over the world blue, starting with Ruka’s.
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