by Marco Bonarrigo
The cyclist talks about the gold he won at the World Championships in the pursuit: «Only later did I realize I had won. The long relationship? The pedals on the blocks do not turn»
“The celebrations? Messages to thank family members for the compliments, a quick toast with classmates. I was so cooked that I immediately jumped into bed. After a race there is always another race, you have to rest. I postpone the holidays and in the end maybe I forget them. I’m not the type for big ceremonies, me».
The rest of the warrior Filippo Ganna a few hours after the sixth rainbow jersey in the track pursuit is, as always, active rest: in the morning time trial circuit test on Friday, in the afternoon lying on the bed of the Crowne Plaza in Glasgow. Seven years have passed since the then unknown 19-year-old Piedmontese won his first title in London by breaking a blue fast that had lasted for 40 years (Moser, 1976). Since then, Pippo has amazed us in every possible way, holding on his broad shoulders an Italian cycling short of phenomena: ten world titles between road and track, a barrage of European medals, gold in Tokyo with the quartet, the record dell’Ora, the pink jersey at the Giro. And on Sunday the breathtaking comeback with which he scraped together five cents ahead of the Englishman Bigham who, petty, thought he had already won.
During the interviews you have the face of someone in the dentist’s chair. Shyness or allergy to journalists?
«I hate questions that are all the same, I hate heaviness. I’m not shy, if the question is interesting I’ll gladly answer».
You lost the team final against Denmark in Tokyo on Saturday. Was he disappointed?
“You win, you lose. They call us “little train” but in reality we are four locomotives. It’s not easy to get everyone in shape and with the same petrol on the same day at the same time, if someone is in trouble the result is compromised. We did well on Sunday but we didn’t win. And I was sorry, yes.”
Why did you decide to run the individual test, a few hours later?
«No, I did it because my coach Marco Villa had signed me up for the race. I would never disappoint him, he is one of the few people who really matter in my life ».
It is with Villa that you exchange your last words before the start, face to face. What do you say?
«Things of ours, things that count. And which I will never reveal, neither now nor when I stop».
In a year’s time in Paris there will be the Olympic rematch with the Danes.
«I only see the time trial and then the three weeks of the Vuelta at the end of August. Regain your strength, I’ll think about 2024. The experience and the defeat in Glasgow will help to understand how many things there are to fine-tune. We want to win again at the Games.”
Sunday’s race was exciting and dramatic: halfway through the race you seemed doomed, then your recovery was miraculous. What do you perceive pedaling at 60 per hour?
«Little, very little even if in delirium and extreme fatigue you have to find a pinch of lucidity to understand how you’re doing and if there’s anything you can correct. I perceived the delay in the middle of the race, I realized that I was making a comeback in the second part but I understood that I had won by only seeing my name flashing on the scoreboard».
Its winning and risky tactic is to push a monstrously long ratio (62×14 or 66×15 teeth) which allows it to develop very high speeds in the last part but which makes the bike very slow at the start.
«Behind that choice there are complicated reasoning and hard work: choosing the ratio by imagining the performance you want to obtain and the shape of the moment, training strength by lifting barbells in the gym and using up the track to be able to push it without breaking your legs. And then a super bike and very good mechanics at eliminating all forms of friction».
Is it true that if you try to turn the pedals with your hands they don’t move?
«No, it’s not true, they have a crazy smoothness: if you come to see me, I’ll show you. But getting them to turn by pedaling out of the blocks, that’s another story. It’s better there if you don’t really try.”
After the hour record, you spoke of excruciating pain in the butt to maintain the position. The pain of the four minutes of the chase instead?
“It’s different. The worst moment comes after two minutes when the lactic acid rises from your legs and clouds your brain and you know there is still a long way to go. There you have to find a few seconds of recovery, free your mind while continuing to pedal at 60 per hour. I don’t know how I do it, but I do it when instead it would be instinctive for me to slow down, give up. But you can’t, I can’t.”
On Friday he will be looking for his third title in the individual time trial: 47km instead of four, almost an hour instead of four minutes, uphill finish and opponents of the caliber of Van Aert, Pogacar, Evenepoel and Kung. Is he a masochist?
“No, I want to win. It will be very hard, as always I will hurt myself very much, but I will try until the last meter».
August 8, 2023 (change August 8, 2023 | 08:01)
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