The Bujese cyclist of Israel, on Saturday at the start of the Giro d’Italia, remembers the anniversary of the earthquake. “He must be an example for everyone”.
TURIN. “May 6 is not a day like any other for my Friuli, that date remains engraved in the history of our people, that date is pain and redemption. I am a cyclist and the effort of my grandparents and my parents to rebuild my Buja and my Friuli serves me as an example every day, every kilometer of my career ”.
So Alessandro De Marchi, the 34-year-old from Buiese of the Israel Start Nation, at the presentation of his team that will leave for the Giro d’Italia on Saturday. From Turin the “Rosso di Buja” sends a message to his land: “In those days 45 years ago our people suffered, but then they rolled up their sleeves and were not afraid to ask for help. Here, he demonstrated that with dignity one must also be able to ask for a car. He has received and then has given so much over the years. I am proud of it and for this reason May 6 must be remembered also and above all by people like me who did not experience those years in the first person but got to know them thanks to the stories of grandparents and parents. I saw a video of our regional news Rai before arriving here with my country destroyed and even more I understood how we must respect and honor the effort made by our grandparents ”.
De Marchi is almost moved, while he is asked a little more about his Friuli, this time from a cycling point of view. Twofold. Because in the group there will be, in addition to teammate Davide Cimolai from Pordenone, three other cyclists from his land or linked to it: the Osovan, and often training partner Nicola Venchiarutti (Androni Sidermec), Matteo Fabbro, the co-rider of Bora Hansgrohe and the other Bora Davide Aleotti, 21 years old from Emilia but Friulian by adoption.
“We all have one thing in common: we have raced for Team Friuli, the Continental team in recent years, a true forge of talents for Italian cycling – continued De Marchi -. The Federation must remember these semi-professional realities because they keep the Italian cycling movement on its feet and also events such as the Giro d’Italia ”.
Already the Giro, next to him in the “virtual” press conference was the captain Dan Martin, the Irish expert who aims to do well in the general classification: “I explained the Zoncolan a little – continues the Friulian rider – he had done the Ovaro side in 2010, the one from Sutrio is simple: in the last 3 km you have to know how to suffer “.
My tour? “I circled some stages in red, but I’m not telling you out of luck. One thing is certain, I want to go fast to start the march towards the Tokyo Olympics. I want to send a message to Citti Cassani that he can count on me, as he did in Rio in 2016. I want to return to the Olympics, because those who have been there once cannot help but want to return ”.
Buon Giro De Marchi a son or grandson of the earthquake knows what concepts such as fatigue, suffering, dreams, business mean.
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