Egan Bernal’s pink jersey on Monday at the start of L’Aquila
Gianni Savio, remembers the debut among the pros of the pink jersey in his team
FOLIGNO. Coppa Agostoni 2016, Gianni Savio, “the prince” of sports directors, “bridge” with South American cycling for over thirty years, meets the prosecutor Paolo Alberati. He is looking for a runner for his Androni, the other proposes a Pacchiardo Piedmontese, he is a niche. “I’m looking for a climber,” she tells him. “There he is,” replies the other, pointing to a runner a few meters from him. “But that is a child what do I do?”.
Alberati has no doubts: “I’ll send you the values of this boy’s tests by e-mail and then we’ll talk about it.”
A few days later Savio, Alberati and the boy were sitting in front of a table in Ovada to sign the first agreement as a pro for the Giro 2021 pink jersey.
Gianni Savio with Egan Bernal at the end of the 2019 Tour
The Turin patron recalls: «The e-mail with the physical data had arrived and I had talked to his father in Colombia. Germàn was the custodian of the Zipaquira sanctuary, a very popular place of worship. And I had talked to the boy immediately noticing his intelligence and humility ». Bernal had finished twice on the podium at the Mountain Bike World Championships among juniors, so when I saw the arrival on Sunday at Campo Felice on the dirt road I understood that Egan would have made a difference up there ».
Four-year contract for the boy. Salary to go up and the masterpiece of the “enhancement bonus”: 300 thousand euros to be paid to his team if a Pro Tour team wants to take him away. “We’ve always increased that contract for him,” he explains. At the debut 50 thousand euros in salary, now the winner of the 2019 Tour travels around three million.
Bernal at the arrival of Rocca di Cambio
Savio immediately understood that he had played bingo: «Bordighera, Giro del Mediterraneo, climbs in bursts. He makes the hell out of four and gets in the top ten. He was 19. I tell a French journalist: “he will soon win the Tour”. Two years ago, when I went to Val Torens to enjoy his triumph, just where “my” Cacaito Rodriguez in the Zg Bottecchia jersey won in ’94, that journalist came to look for me to tell me that I had taken it ». Savio is excited. «Egan is superfine talent, intelligent, humble and grateful». “The Prince” greets us, Simon Pellaud is on the run, obviously Swiss-Colombian. «We want to win the ranking of the km in the breakaway and the flying finish lines. For the pink jersey, obviously, I support Bernal ». What questions.
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