The blue locomotive drags the quartet of the pursuit to today’s final with the Danes
the interview
Tokyo
A blue locomotive with three wagons whizzing at supersonic speed towards the team pursuit medal. Just as Enrico Fabris led the trio of speed skating to gold on the Turin ice in 2006, Filippo Ganna also dreams of dragging the track cycling quartet to the top step of the podium at the Izu velodrome. The Verbanese ace yesterday was the protagonist of a prodigious comeback in the semifinal against New Zealand (won by 90 thousandths) which allowed Italy to fly to the final with the new world record: 3’42 ”307. Top Ganna dragged teammates Lamon, Consonni and Milan to today’s final match against Denmark (11.06 am), at an average speed of 64.765 km / h.
Filippo, how do you comment on this performance?
«We arrived with a good leg and the guys showed that the work done over the years has led to a lot of satisfaction and emotions. More than once it had not gone well, everything comes back sooner or later ».
Where did you find the strength to go so fast?
“I can only say that in our group there is one who has already won an important medal (Elia Viviani, gold in Rio 2016 in the omnium, ed) and he knows what it’s like to win it. I would also like to share it with the others I have next to me, so I tell them to hold on for another 24 hours, then if they want they can get drunk and I will be the first to accompany them ».
Can you tell us about the semi-final?
«Laughing and joking, we had to start at 13” 6, while on the second lap we were at 13 ”3. So I said: “Okay guys, do what you want, now we’re there” ».
The controversy rages against those who are strong. How happens to Jacobs in athletics, also against her, are there those who have protested about some components of her bike?
«There are countries that have said that my handlebar was not homologated, while it is recognized by the UCI. They just want to put a spanner in the works. I don’t want to be a braggart, but I could have started with the points race too. If we have achieved this result, it is thanks to the commitment of the staff and those close to us, because it is never easy. And then thanks to the guys who gave me a great hand to do something really beautiful ».
How do you judge the performance of your teammates?
«Lamon had never started so strong, Consonni made the second man, who immediately brought us“ to the table ”. Then there is Milan, tall and young who can be the future of cycling on the track and beyond, because he knows how to defend himself on the road too ».
How will you run the final?
«We have to do the race on us and follow a person on the track with the tablet that we believe blindly and that is Marco Villa. If we do it, we have seen what we are capable of doing: it will be our beacon, we will try to entertain Italy ». –
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