After the World Championships, the national team coach has been very upset with me evidently. He said that I didn’t do enough work but instead aimed for my own goals. That I thereby betrayed the team and cost Moser, Giovanni and Diego a potential win because our tactic flopped. That the tactic was built upon guys like me doing all they could to control the race. To keep breakaway riders in check. I wasn’t the only one he held accountable, but I was apparently the one he was pissed off the most. He kept blaming me, he said I betrayed the team.
While he shouted at me, I kept quiet. He later talked to La Gazzetta dello Sport, and I kept quiet again. Because what could I say, what did I have to answer, how could I defend myself? It was the truth. I did hold back. I wanted it for myself. All of it.
The next day, there was a huge headline on page 5, where Gazzetta dello Sport put up a ranking with all the Italian riders and their performance. I was rated the lowest. Again, I decided to keep it quiet. But it’s something I’ll have to think about. The Italian media and public are all too quick to celebrate you when you show talent. I enjoyed a great campaign so far and was fortunate with many things. They tend to overemphasize each raise or drop in your form. They already put a lot of pressure on young, fragile shoulders such as mine.
There’s only the laurel wealth or the burning torch, hardly anything in between. I have to remind myself of that, and it’s not healthy for me…
Italian Fall, Part 1
I took a trip home then to visit the Italian Fall Classics ahead of the start of the CX season. Despite the recent headlines and blame concerning the World Championships, I feel some great affection from the tivosi, they seem to like me. To become a true champion, I am still missing wins in Italy though, and lots of them to be in fact.
Milano – Torino
We climbed the super steep Colle di Superga, it’s up to 20%. It’s basically Turin’s home climb and hosts various tombs of former lords and serves as an attraction for many tourists. Today however, Colle di Superga was the host of a beloved semi-classic.
Caruso was our leader, I was just merely there to help in the finale. Things went side-ways fast though, since Joaquim Rodriguez once more wasn’t willing to let anybody challenge him at all. Unlike him, he didn’t spare a single second. He didn’t just outsprint somebody on the last kilometer, he attacked at the first time climbing, right at the start. He must have been feeling super strong today. At the first time climbing Superga, he immediately burst away and the competition was left chasing. At such steep percentages, you can only push forward. You can’t really help your captain. That’s why Caruso dropped from a group, while I prevailed and kept hanging onto a group of guys like Pozzovivo and Nerz.
The fun repeated itself in the second run too. There was no chance for the win with Rodriguez so far ahead, but I had the chance for a good result here and I was willing to take it. Eventually I finished 12th. I am more than satisfied since this wasn’t a climb that suited me well. It’s too steep for my own liking, not much a hill but a monstrosity of Italian seismic adventures.
Milano - Torino, Results (Export failed)
Giro del Piemonte
Since at the Giro del Piemonte both big favourites were on my team (Sagan, Moser), I had a solid day’s work cut out for me. We were likely riding for Moser, since he didn’t win anything yet in this season and Sagan would leave the team anyway at the end of the season.
Orica GreenEdge, Omega Pharma and Lampre made the race very fast early on though, so I didn’t have to put any energy in the chasing effort. Only when Ulissi attacked, it was my job to pace the hell out of the peloton in order to catch him. We didn’t manage to reel him in though. Santamorita attacked in the finale eventually, Moser followed. Both were not strong enough to reach Ulissi, who is some fine late season shape. Even the attack on the top of the climb wasn’t enough for Sagan to make any difference. Moser finished 3rd after being defeated in the sprint by Santamorita, Ulissi took the win. Sagan came in 5th, I finish on 36th after contributing most of my energy to our day’s effort. Quite a disappointing race for us, and not the best sign ahead of Il Lombardia.
@baia: Really can't win everything but one Italian classic in Autumn would be the icing on the cake.
Italian Fall, Part 2 Il Lombardia
It’s an exciting day for me to ride my first Lombardia. If you want to talk about my childhood dreams, this one is right up there with the Ronde, Liege and CX World Championships. It’s everything to me. A race I hold dear, I race I want to win and to best. But first, I’ll have to work on myself for many years until I can fulfill such a dream. That is to say, if I ever manage.
One rider who has fulfilled this goal already two times achieved his third time today: Joaquim Rodriguez. I have seen first-hand in what a great late season shape he was at some minor Italian classics, and he continued it today with a staggering performance up the Salita di Ello to the town of Villa Vergano. His acceleration put everyone down and we at Cannondale at least knew that it was coming and we marked him good and careful, but what can you do, when he just rides away and you’re still struggling behind there. Contador and Valverde completed the Spanish podium, while World Champion Daniel Martin got 4th and confirmed his good late season form.
Our best guy up front was of course Peter Sagan, who was defeated by Betancur in the sprint though, and came in 6th. I must admit I was nervous at the start and throughout the race. I seemed to have lost the overview and the last time that happened to me, I was contesting in some junior race. At some point, I didn’t know where I was supposed to be, and Sagan might havn’t know either, as he was caught back in a second group and everybody was riding away. I thought about following one of Contador’s many far-out attacks, but riding with Pistolero for 50 kilometer here would have been suicidal and so damn exhausting. I collected my last bottle at the 40 kilometer mark and brought them to Moser, Sagan and Caruso. I was then tasked with providing for Moser some cover and I did good at getting up the Salita di Ello and contesting its descent. With a decent finish, I achieved the 21st rank in the sprint in the big group. I felt it was a worthy achievement of my first Lombardia. 20 places to improve though.
Oh, and by the way: Rodriguez and Boonen have both won two Monuments this season. But which was more impressive for you guys, Purito at Liege and Lombardia or Boonen’s double of Ronde and Paris – Roubaix?
Hmm, I think Purito's LBL and Lombardia is more impressive. Because I expect Boonen to take the double in good shape, but Purito finally winning Liège and then Lombardia, which is months apart. Shows good fitness peaking
@Ian Butler: Yes, I think I agree. Additionally Purito really was the strongest on both days, with Boonen and OPQ you never really know. Both impressive deeds of course, and ones that Raphael will aim towards.
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
Hey there, nice to see back on the forums. (I decided (later on) that Raphael is italian-austrian cyclist, so yeah... one reason more to follow, eh? )
So here comes the last Italian Fall Part. There'll be a little summary then for the season and then we kick off CX already, a few days maybe because of the EPIC Giro 2013. You guys ready?
Italian Part 3
I had four more races to go until there would be Cyclo-Cross time again. All four of them were beautiful experiences, however I am missing out on time as I already have to prepare for the muddy trails. Mostly, I need to spend some serious hours in the gym to train my arms again for all the bike-carrying that lies ahead of me.
Coppa Sabatini
A wonderful race, that just looks perfect. It’s landscape from Legioli to Peccioli is an art in itself. Most of the kilometers are raced on a circuit with around 20 to 22 kilometers and I enjoyed each one of them. Maybe I should have spent less time enjoying though and more climbing.
There were two hills in each round and after some laps, they sure took their toll already. As the weather gets worse, riders like Nerz and Frank get dropped on the hilly parcour and the list of favourites diminishes. In most faces of my rivals I see the expressions of a long campaign. They look forward to the winter, to some off-time. Their legs are all tired already when they start.
Under various attacks from many local and international stars, Ulissi finally makes the split. Moser and me were both in the chasing group, but no real work was done there. Instead the riders continued to tirelessly attack each other over and over again, while Ulissi rode to a clear victory. After the finish, it starts to rain. Something we were eagerly racing from. I finish 7th, Moser 10th.
Giro dell’Emilia
I got to wear the honour of wearing our number 1. Well, basically I had the number 141 ahead of Damiano Caruso. Unfortunately I couldn’t take real use of the shared captaincy. Purito was just once more out of this world and rode easily away from us. He attacked with still 30 kilometers left and his solo – well, that was just incredible. Despite NetApp’s and our chasing efforts, there was nothing to be done. I tried my own luck at the 10 kilometer mark later, but I was just one of many unfortunate men that got taught a lesson today.
Giro della Romagna
Another beautiful route sees me trying my best. The pace of the race was fast to begin with. At 50 kilometers left, only 50 men were left. Additiontally to the pace, some narrow roads backed up the selection process and made it hard to keep in front. I felt like riding the Ardennes classics occasionally.
When race favourite Pozzato was trapped back in the peloton, Ulissi attacked and went for another win. I couldn’t react initially, however I hang myself onto Acevedo (GRS) and tried to hang onto them on the last climb. Trofimov was there with us too and with him we managed to catch Ulissi, while there was a break of the day joining us from up ahead. A 12 group was there in the finale, and the ensuing attacks made the race organizers, sponsors and tv company happy. It was great racing for an Italian afternoon in front of the tv. At first I was chasing many of the attacks together with Ulissi and Cataldo, howver I soon noticed that this took too much energy. That’s why I tried to save some energy by reducing my relay-turns. I kept thereby within my limits, I wasn’t breathing too hard. My legs felt great.
The race was pure life. You couldn’t wish for a better advertisement, well – until the point where Trofimov went clear and the Russian won this race in Italy. Worse things have happened. But not so many for me lately, as I finish first in the sprint I can now complain about a missed winning opportunity. However, I made a decision between chasing and waiting it out later in the race, and I must have decided for a good result rather than winning.
I regret that since I want to live by the way of always trying to win. And I want to race in such a way too. Give it all.
Good results are a cyclist’s daily bread, but I want those wins. Over and over again.
Coppa Placci
It was us against Purito in my last race of the season. And Purito won. With Steep hills all around us through the mountaineous town, over and over again. I got into a small group of some men and only Ulissi managed to eventually keep up with Purito when he accelerated into the finish. I snatched a decent result.
I am still missing that win in Italy. They publish a caricature of me in Gazzetta dello Sport, where I ride on hills and pretend I’m Belgian. It’s embarrassing and mean by them and if they think they found a victim they can bully and make fun off. They are wrong. There’s no way they will be able to break me in such a way.
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
Shonak wrote:
Hey there, nice to see back on the forums. (I decided (later on) that Raphael is italian-austrian cyclist, so yeah... one reason more to follow, eh? )
Yeah i didn't have too much time lately, but it's nice to be back
Even though i also haven't really posted too much before
That's true
BTW: Love the part about the caricature
Amazing rides by Purito.. for sure Purito´s both wins are more impressive..
Good duty rides by Raphael... i´m sure he will show to Gazzetta dello Sport how wrong they are..
And this concludes the season for me. I’m shipping up to… Valkenburg for the first race of my new CX season. I should catch up on some sleep, but I decided to need to do this now or I’ll be damned.
As you see, I haven’t contested in any Grand Tours. It’s not my cup of tea. I find it boring to watch and I may as well find it boring to race it myself. Of course, I’d like to win a stage once or twice at the Tour de France, but call me a weirdo, I have never dreamt of winning le Tour. A guy who definitely did dream of winning le Tour has fulfilled it this year: Alejandro Valverde. He was just incredible this season. Not only did he manage the double of winning le Tour and la Vuelta, he was consistent throughout the year. From winning in Catalunya to coming in 3rd in Lombardia. He was just always there, always ready to fight and win. This was his year most of all.
Peter Sagan finished 2nd in the ranking and I doubt he would have had a chance at winning the World Tour Ranking if he had been fit for the Ardennes classics. Although he won quite a lot this season, Sagan didn’t score that big win yet. He is still missing that yearned Monuments win. I don’t know if he will have better chances to do so at Team SKY, but one thing is for sure: His payment definitely is monumental by now.
On a shared third place are Alberto Contador and Chris Froome with 560 points. Last year’s Tour de France winner had a great Giro, but was disappointing at le Tour. Contador kicked in incredibly in the third week of le Tour, while also winning quite some races such as Tour de Suisse.
Two Monuments win for… Boonen and Rodriguez. Certainly a season neither of them will ever forget. Of course, you also see a certain Spanish/Belgian dominance in all five races. It’s bitter that no Italian made it up there. Not even on the podium once. The Gazzetta dello Sport may be onto something with all their condemning. A similar picture was lastly seen at the World Championships, where the English-speaking countries stroke back in Ponferrada in form of Daniel Martin for Ireland and Chris Froome for Great Britain. Kwiatkowski scored two bronze medals, the Time Trial is still one of the weirdest things where Kwiatkowski, Dubridge and Wiggins all finished with nearly the same time, all 55 seconds down on Froome.
Rankings
1.
Alejandro Valverde
Movistar
1255
2.
Peter Sagan
Cannondale
734
3.
Alberto Contador
Tinkoff-Saxo
560
4.
Chris Froome
SKY
560
5.
Joaquim Rodriguez
Katusha
556
6.
Daniel Martin
Garmin-Sharp
496
7.
Vincenzo Nibali
Astana
443
8.
Rui Costa
Lampre-Merida
438
9.
Chris Horner
Lampre-Merida
432
10.
Michal Kwiatkowski
Omega Pharma
423
.
.
74.
Raphael Visconti
Cannondale
54
Team Rankings
1.
Movistar
1735
2.
SKY
1329
3.
Tinkoff-Saxo
1197
4.
Omega Pharma
1144
5.
Lampre-Merida
1113
6.
BMC
1088
7.
Katusha
1015
8.
Cannondale
1003
9.
Garmin-Sharp
817
10.
Astana
694
Relegation: FDJ and Europcar are heading down to PCT level, while IAM and Cofidis head one up.
Ch-Ch-Changes
Following the recent success of Cannondale’s new signing in Spain, T.J. Van Garderen, the team operator Brixia Sports Spa, has announced that Citigroup will be the new main sponsor of the team for at least three years. Cannondale of course stays heavily involved but the move can cut cost for the American Bicycle manufacturer.
This comes as no surprise since the team is eager to stay competitive after the departure of Cannondale’s main gun Peter Sagan. An increase in budget helps the cause of finding success in the World Tour. It will be a season of points longing, which may not fly by easily, but confidence is to be felt with the new signings of T.J. Van Garderen, Thomas De Gendt and Lawson Craddock.
Stay tuned for my personal review of 2014 before we finally kick off CX season. This time for real, I promise.
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
Wow Valverde really had an amazing season. Has anyone ever managed to get over 1200 WT Points?
With the departure of Sagan and the 3 great new signings being all some kind of stage racers, does that mean that Raphael will get more opportunities to lead next year?
Good luck for Raphael and Citigroup in 2015
