Cyclists are on vacation, even on distant beaches, in the heat, to him, the lord of the track, the task of budgets and “homework” for our young champions or on the way to become one, Jonathan Milan and Manlio Moro, and other.
Marco Villa, 53 years old from Varese, two times world champion of the American, is the coach of Italy on the track. From this year he is also in the women’s sector. He is linked to Friuli, and to Friulian talents, it is no coincidence that he was at the wedding between Elena Cecchini and Elia Viviani on Saturday. We will be back.
Coach, the season is over, let’s start with the votes: how much do you give to Milan and Moro?
“Ten. And also to the other blues. I would also have given praise to the boys of the quartet if we hadn’t lost a few cents here and there in the world final, but it can happen and there are also opponents ».
Nothing to blame?
«Not at all. Let’s start from Milan: I have to thank him because he sacrificed himself to make the start without our having had the opportunity to try it. But he is a talent, in the quartet he can run great in all positions ».
What difference is there in the roles of the blue Frecciarossa?
«The departure is very delicate. You have to unload power in a few seconds, Milan knows how to do it and in fact, even in the specialty of the kilometer standing still he knows how to go fast ».
The final with the Italian derby between him and Ganna has made history. In the end, the Friulian said he was disappointed. Yet he lost with a phenomenon …
«Jonathan is like this, like Viviani: he always wants to win, otherwise he wouldn’t be a champion. He was aiming a lot for the title, unfortunately for him he found a phenomenon that is hard to beat when it goes like this. And beware, I said it over and over to Milan and I repeat it: that Ganna phenomenon had to break the world record to beat him. And Jonny ran the pursuit at 22 in 4’03 ”, at that age Ganna didn’t do those times. So the future is all of him ».
But the Bujese will have a flaw, right?
«(ride ndr). Everyone has them, when you don’t have them anymore it’s time to stop. Yes, he has to believe more in the means than him. I’ll tell you an anecdote: he had been on the track for a week preparing for the World Championship when he received, surprisingly, the call-up for the Tour of Croatia from his Bahrain Victorious. He was perplexed, he would have liked to stay and prepare for the World Cup in Paris. I persuaded him to go and take his chance. Result: two stages won, the first as a pro, an uphill number where he resisted a certain Vingegaard, and great work for the team. All while racing in the days before on the track. And then before the quartet’s final, I saw him tense about having to make the start. I simply told him: Jonny, an Olympic champion at 21, is not afraid of anything ».
So the track is good … she always said that.
«Sure, always. My friend Martinello in 1996 had the best season on the road and won gold on the track at the Atlanta Olympics … Viviani has always been the proof that the two worlds are complementary ».
Let’s come to Manlio Moro: did he surprise you?
«No, I follow it from the minor categories and I had already tested it in international events. Manlio was very good. I trusted him because joining a quartet with four Olympic champions is not easy, but he did it with talent, character and ease ».
Coach, in 2024 at the Paris Olympics will we have a half-Friulian quartet back?
“Well, the odds are good. Jonny is an Olympic champion, Manlio has earned his performance to be part of the group that will fight for a place in Paris ».
In six days you accompanied Ganna to two amazing records: the hour and the world title with a record under 4 ‘. Yet the pursuit Pippo did not want to run. How did he convince him?
«I tried to make him think and tell him that there were no cons, but many pros in running that race. The boys did the same. “Try to set the world record” we told him, the condition was super. Obviously sorry for Jonny, who, however, I repeat, has the whole future ahead. These guys have no limits, just look at their times and it’s a pleasure to train them. There would be another anecdote … ».
Nail…
“Sometimes Ganna still doesn’t know what it’s worth. But one thing is certain, on the track it regenerates. This year until the World Championships he had never raced on the track, yet he had come many times to the Montichiari velodrome to train only because he felt the desire to do so and he considered it necessary to prepare himself for road racing. Here he is the demonstration of my method: if I manage to give back to the teams winning athletes on the road after working on the track, it means that I have reached the goal ».
And with her coach the women’s quartet also won the World Cup …
«Stop there. I inherited a competitive group. It took a moment to make it worse. Among the girls there is a lot of talent, it will not be easy to choose the 5 for the Olympic quartet. There is the talent of Balsamo, which has a driving effect, and then there are Chiara Consonni or Martina Fidanza, who among other things trains in Friuli at the CtFLab. I’m lucky”.
The blue track is healthy, yet in Italy there is only the covered velodrome of Montichiari …
“In the meantime, let me say something: in San Giovanni al Natisone and in Pordenone with the Bottecchia you have two beautiful structures in Friuli, I know that even in Buja at Milan’s home something is moving for a covered velodrome (the practice, however, seems stuck ndrYes, the miracle of the track is now done with talents like Viviani, Ganna, Milan, Moro and the others. The problem is that now we need to take advantage of the moment to equip the country with structures in which the new Ganna and Milan can train. Otherwise this miracle will be useless ».
By the way, the first of the pros to believe in the track was the newlywed Elia Vivani. Do you agree?
«Of course, he is the point of reference of the group and I am enormously happy that he married the splendid Elena. I’m just back from their wonderful wedding party. Besides being two champions, they are special people. And I would have another anecdote … ».
Villa, we called it for this …
«It was 2012, we were returning from the World Championships in Minsk and Elia approaches me and tells me he got engaged during the Italian expedition with Cecchini. I hadn’t noticed anything … ».
What are your commitments in about twenty years?
“I hope to be retired.”
What if a “Vivianino” or a “mini Cecchini” arrives at the velodrome?
«Lucky whoever trains them, the talent will be assured».