BUJA. Jonathan Milan, one of the four heroes of the Tokyo Olympics gold quartet turns 21 today, Friday 1 October. A special birthday, today he will train again on the stones of Paris-Roubaix, the race of his dreams in which the Bahrain Victorious will make his debut on Sunday, in an unprecedented autumn edition. We wanted to congratulate him together with a special person for Bujese talent: Marco Villa, the technical commissioner of the Azzurri of the track, an illustrious past among the lords of the velodromes between the two world titles in the American with Silvio Martinello and a bronze at the Olympics in Sydney in 2000.
Villa, when did you meet Milan for the first time?
«Well, we had some notes about him as a junior, but I also ran with his father Flavio at Caneva. Then one day Roberto Bressan, an expert, patron of the Friuli team, called me inviting me to try the boy who had become under 23 in the meantime. He was “alone” the autumn of two years ago … ».
Now, even with a pandemic in the middle, that boy has an Olympic gold around his neck. Surprised?
“No. Joining a well-established quartet must not have been easy for him. He worked hard, it is true he has great talent, but he immediately showed great availability and ability to learn. He raised the level of the group, it was difficult to exclude comrades who had been working for some time, but the chronometer in these cases never lies. A hat-trick in the World Cup between Australia, Minsk and New Zealand made me understand that he was ready for the 2020 World Cup where he then passed on his debut ».
Until that hug at the Tokyo velodrome.
“What an emotion! I had already driven Viviani to the Rio 2016 Olympic gold, but there he had put a lot of his Elia into it. With the quartet, runners with different stories, teams and programs must be amalgamated. The technician has to find the best chemistry. In short, that victory was a huge satisfaction and thinking about that little boy running towards me in tears still excites me ».
Johnny dotes on her …
“But what he did is all thanks to him! He earned the gold effort after effort ».
How old were you when you won the Olympic bronze?
“Thirty-one. Just think, ten more than Johnny, who now has a career ahead of him and will have to make his experiences, his mistakes. Miles must pass under his pedals. Obviously, there are now higher expectations of him: of the team, of the sporting directors, of the managers. It is the difficult side of an Olympic gold medal won at the age of 20 “
Do you want to find a fault in your runner?
«(Ride ed). He is still a big kid, he asks permission to do everything, he continually wants to be reassured. Know what he will do one, two, three days later. But it’s not a big flaw, come on. “
One who understands like Davide Cassani says that, within three years, he can also become one of the strongest sprinters. Agree?
“Yup. It is different from Ganna, who is more chronoman. Milan is also strong in certain times, but is faster than “Pippo”. It will be necessary to understand whether he will decide to jump into the sprints or be the forerunner, very well paid, for a captain-sprinter ».
And the classics of the North?
«Meanwhile on Sunday he debuts at Paris-Roubaix, he will gain experience and then we’ll see. It will be up to him to find his size. The track, however, as we saw with that Ganna phenomenon, can only continue to do him good ».
The European Championships are on track next week. Then the World Cup will arrive: isn’t it risky to face the cobblestones?
“No, that’s okay. And then in Bahrain, which supported him well in his Olympic preparation, they claimed him. I wait for him on the track and the stones will do him good ».
Have you heard that the mayor wants to build a covered velodrome in Buja?
«But do you know that Milan repeats it to me at every training session? There are also De Marchi, the young Lorenzo Ursella already protagonist in the blue youth teams: there is good air there. In Italy we only have the Montichiari velodrome to prepare for other victories, if you really build a velodrome in Friuli, I will immediately move to you ».
What wish do you want to make to “your” boyfriend?
«Johnny, enjoy this day that from next week will have to sweat for the blue».