Italy. A beautiful country.
With its tall mountains, beautiful oceans and dark-haired women it's undoubtedly the greatest country in the world. From the white roads of Tuscany to the small, beautiful towns in Sicily. I cannot help falling in love with it.
Italy is a country that has had some difficulties bringing its citizens to the 21th century. Old habits die hard and many of my neighbours seem like they come out of an old Federico Fellini movie. And yet the country has shed some of its past. Cycling is no longer the sport that represents the ordinary Italian. The days of Alfredo Binda, Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali are way behind us. Marco Pantani might as well have been the last of the Italian cycling heroes.
And yet we Italians carry on. We are proud, most certainly. We are eager, we are hardworking. We are still part of that same collective that brought forth these legends. Italian cycling is now waking up from its slumber...
Antonio Andolini
My name is Antonio Andolini. I was born in Como and raised in Varese. My heart bleeds for Lombardy. As the youngest of six, I had some tough moments growing up. While all my brothers went straight to the university after high school, I took a different road. Aged 18 and straight out of school, I roamed around Europe. For about half a year, I was a drifter, going from city to city. It was a wonderful adventure, seeing the most beautiful sights. The forests in Slovenia, the shores of Sweden and much more. Still undecided about my future, I decided to finally return home. I would make one final stop, in a small country called Belgium.
By a string of coincidences I ended up in Ghent on a rainy evening. I had met some interesting people and I found myself in Het Kuipke. There was an event called the Six Days of Ghent. Track Cycling. While I was not totally unfamiliar with (track) cycling, the impact of that night changed my life. A week later, I was back home, announcing my plans to my parents. I moved to Milan on my own to start pursuing that dream. Backed up financially by father, I had been given a year to see this thing through.
It became obvious soon that I had quite some talent for track cycling. For one, I have always been good at sports. So I improved quickly.
I'm 22 years old now. Last year I represented Italy on the UCI World Championships Track Cycling and opened very strongly. Without any major ambitions (I was just happy to be there) I went in the racing with an open mindset. I ended up a very surprising World Champion Omnium. I don't know who was more stunned; the crowd or myself.
Next year, I will race the 2015 UCI World Championships Track Cycling. And they will be my last. After a lot of talks and some deep thinking, I decided to try my luck on the road. I have no idea where this road will lead me, but I'm okay with that. I feel it's my place.
The Call of the Road
I haven't raced on the track very long. It hasn't been nearly 5 years. And despite that I've loved every second of it, I don't think it's a big part of my future. I remember the stories from when I was young.
Alfredo Binda, a legend and a Varese icon.
Gino Bartali, a sinner and a saint alike.
Fausto Coppi, a demigod on wheels.
Track Cycling is an art. But it's out on the road where stories are made.
I'm very close to a contract with a newly forming Italian ProContinental team. With them, I would be able to concentrate on the Track World Championships first and then start riding on the road full time in March.
I'll keep this space updated throughout the months and - if I can - throughout my career as a road cyclist. You can expect an update on the team soon, as soon as there is anything to confirm. After that, I expect to focus fully on my final weeks as a track rider so it'll probably be quiet until after the World Championships.
Ciao
Antonio
Edited by Ian Butler on 02-07-2017 05:22
Interesting premise and obviously can't wait for this - will follow for sure
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT] Xero Racing
We're now midway December and there's only about 10 weeks left until the UCI World Championships Track. A while back I signed my first contract with a professional road cycling team. So besides my usual training in Milan on the velodrome, I've been exercising more and more on the road, too.
As I said earlier, I will start my road career as soon as the Championships are finished. What my 2015 season will look like and what team I'll be representing, I'll explain right away.
Cattelan Italia
Cattelan Italia is a brand new team, riding on PCT level. It's a highly ambitious project, hoping to unite Italian cycling and providing a home for the country's biggest talents in the long run. I'm proud to be part of its first selection and I hope I can grow alongside the team. It's gotten hold of a PCT license but with the team we have, we hope to aim for a WT spot within the next two seasons. Maybe promotion is within our reach within a year, even.
The Squad Sonny Collbrelli Alessandro De Marchi Alessandro Petacchi Andriano Malori Damiano Cunego Mateo Bono Francesco Fontana Antonio Andolini Luca Fassoli Battista Panetto Federico Zurlo Gianni Moscon Pier Andrea Gaudio Pucci Jan Barta Karel Hnik Laurens De Plus Felipe Silva Bruno Maltar
Needless to say, we've got a pretty impressive squad with the likes of Damiano Cunego, Alessandro De Marchi and Italy's finest time trialist Andriano Malori. Added to that are many up-and-coming talents like Sonny Colbrelli, who's a fast finisher with a lot of potential uphill, or Francesco Fontana, who had a most unbelievable season in the U23, winning sprints left and right. Alessandro Petacchi has joined us in his last season as a cyclist to act as a mentor for the young riders. He'll most likely retire at the end of the season and join the staff, a real asset for us, a man of experience!
Besides a strong presence from Italy, obviously, Cattelan Italia is also the home of a few international riders. Jan Barta is the biggest name, as a strong time trialist. Others include young climbing talents like Laurens De Plus and Felipe Silva.
My Abilities / Calendar
Abilities
At this point of my career, it's impossible to say what kind of rider I am or will be. It's not like I have never raced on the road before, there are some amateur cycling events around the parts where I live. But the top level is something else altogether.
From the few sessions with team mates or friends in the professional milieu, I've gathered a few things already, but these are only impressions. It seems track riding has blessed me with a strong motor, meaning I can ride a high tempo for quite a while. On the flat it's not easy to get rid of me, wind or no wind. Likewise it's not a problem if I have to ride alone for a while.
Somewhat surprisingly, I'm rather fast at times. I pack a good punch and when I accelerate, it's pretty damn impressive at times, even if I say so myself. I would not, however, call myself a sprinter, since these burst of accelerations seem more due to my power than to a good sprinting speed or a sprinter's technique.
I haven't a lot of experience so there's not much (yet) to be said but hills or climbs can pose a problem. Well, let me eplain a little better; I find that I can take hills fairly well on power alone, but when the hill is too long - and I guess you can call it climbing - it gets harder.
All this is simply speculation. I'm still only 22 years old and at the very start of my road career. So I guess anything can happen. I could find out I'm not good enough for the road and have to retire in two years, I can end up becoming a sprinter, a time trialist, an all-rounder. It's impossible to say before my actual road training starts. All I know is that I've got a good engine to build on. And that's a pretty good foundation to go from.
Calendar
So first there are the UCI World Championships Track Cycling, from February 18 to 22, 2015. I'll be riding the Omnium event and the Madison.
My first professional race on the road will be Strade Bianchi. I couldn't ask for a more beautiful race and I'm already looking forward to it. After that, the schedule isn't quite clear yet, much will depend on my fatigue from the track, too. However, I may get my first shot at a WT event, too, in the spring. Our team is aiming for wildcards in Tirreno, Amstel Gold Race, Flèche Wallonne and Liège.
I probably won't be riding my first Grand Tour in my neopro, debut year. instead, the team manager has the Tour of California planned for me. Wide roads, a smaller peloton. Since our best men will be riding in the Giro at that time (if we get a wildcard), we'll have a young squad at California and we'll be able to ride for our own account.
The National Championships are something I want to be part of very much. The profile isn't suited to me at all, constantly up and down a rather long climb, but I want to be there anyway. And anything could happen in the time trial event! After that, things are unclear. All I know is that I'm very eager to start at my home race, Tre Valli Varesine.
Goals
I'll be a neopro this season. So I'm not setting too many goals for myself. I just want to ride and be able to develop. Show myself here and there, see what I'm made of. If I know where I stand at the end of the season, I'll be successful in my first year as a professional rider.
But besides that: my three favorite races are Milano - San Remo, Giro d'Italia and Il Lombardia. If I get to ride one of these this season, I'll be extremely pleased. I know the Giro's already off the table, and San Remo might be a bit too early (or maybe not, given I'll be in top shape around March with the track racing), so I'm mostly gunning for Il Lombardia, practically a home race, too.
Anyway, there'll be some radio silence now. I'll get back to you after the Championships! Wish me luck!
Shonak - Yeah, didn't expect to be back here myself. Hope it'll be good!
DiCyc - Thanks!
Vali - Appreciate it! It kind of comes natural to me. Each of us has his own talents and shortcomings, I guess
Tamijo - I guess that's about the only thing we know for sure about him yet. It's a strength he can use to develop into a more versatile rider, hopefully!
Happy to have so many people comment already. I had an amazing story planned out, with a story within a story, with fragments of a journal, interviews, old reports. I had fun planning it during lunch break at work and worked at it for almost two hours. And then I scratched it all and decided: keep it simple. I think that's always worked best for me. Just a simple story, a rider telling about his adventures. No smuck story-telling or great flashback techniques. Hope you enjoy it!
Beautiful screenshot Think he'll find his groove on the cobbles and be like cancellara but whatever he does will be exciting to see him discovering his talents on the road
That's a helluva team
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT] Xero Racing
Ollfardh - I really couldn't But I think it makes sense, too. De Plus as a climbing talent is (in a sense) better off in Italy than in Belgium. He needs mountains and a more mountain-oriented team, although our strongest riders at the moment are sprinters etc.
purepasd - Only time will tell. Thanks for reading
Obviously I won't even try to match the pace I used to have at stories since I'm basically leading another life since then. But I always like to get a story off on a nice, fast take-off so I hope to conclude the intro-posts a little later tonight and maybe get to the first race this evening or tomorrow. I set aside a little time this weekend to work on this.
Next week I'm only working parttime but after that it's back to fulltime work so the pace will slow gradually, which is no shame. I'll only write when I feel like it, after all
The past few weeks have just flown by and I guess I'm now no longer a track rider. The Championships were my last appearance on the track and I can now fully focus on the road.
I would be defending my World Title in the Omnium and try to compete for a medal in the Madison. In January me and my partner in Madison won the Six Days of Rotterdam together, so we knew our form was just right.
The Omnium didn't go exactly as planned. I had a strong start and was actually in the lead at the end of the first day, but too many mistakes as the race went on caused me to drop down the ranking. A decent performance in the final leg saw me get back a bit but it was only for fifth place. Not what I was expecting after the title last year.
There was still the Madison, though. We rode one hell of a race and in the end only one other team was better. A silver medal. I have to admit the other team really was impressive so silver was the best possible place for us.
So mixed feeling leaving track cycling. I'll always have that World Title Omnium 2014 as a 21-year old, most definitely the highlight of my (short) track career. That silver medal in Madison is also something to look back on with a certain pride.
And now
And now, I'm ready for the next big challenge in my career. Strade Bianche is only about a week away. I can't wait to get my first kilometers as a professional road cyclist. It'll take some getting used to, and I'm sort of scared. The good kind of scared.
So tomorrow I head back home to Varese to see my parents and then I'm off to San Gimignano for the start of my first race.
My first 176 km of professional cycling are behind me and, boy, it's been one hell of a ride. What follows is my account of the race. I decided to always write something down before the actual race (pre-race), to see how my thoughts match up with reality. I'll include my pre-race thoughts in my race reports, as I think I might learn something of them.
Strade Bianche
Pre-race
We come here with a decent squad, eyeing the top 10. Damiano Cunego is certainly our leader for the race. Supported by guys like Malori, Barta and Colbrelli, we have a strong base to make the race interesting. As it will be my first race, the manager gave me a free role, to do my thing. No pressure.
Not the flattest race, but no large hills either. This is actually a profile that should suit me quite well. A race for powerful riders with decent engines. The final kilometer uphill I don't like, but it's unlikely I'll be sprinting for the win anyway, right!
The Race
We took Bono along with us for this reason mostly. He was very active in the first half hour of the race and managed to get in the breakaway.
Unfortunately our leader, Cunego, hit the ground early in the race. It took a while to get back and he wouldn't play any vital role in the race, finishing 136th, 25 minutes down on the winner.
The pace of the first two hours was really gruesome. Groups of riders couldn't keep up and dropped right out of the peloton. I was hurting pretty bad, myself. I wasn't given any time to adjust to life on the road.
But as the nerves settled down and the race progressed, I was feeling better and better. By the time we had 70 km left to go, I was feeling very confident.
When Bono, the last remaining early attacker, was caught, the race could really begin!
And World Champion Kwiatkowski opened the race with an attack 20 km from the finish. I didn't see it happen myself as I was a bit further behind at the time, around position 30.
Kwiatkowski was joined by Gerrans to form a strong duo. The peloton collapsed and I found myself riding directly in the chase for the two leaders. Whenever we'd hit a slope, I'd suffer tremendously, but on the flat I always managed to regain a bit of my composure.
The chasing group consisted of 12 riders, including myself and Barta.
Around 7 km from the finish, the attackers were caught. To my DS' big surprise (and mine, too), I was still part of the head of the race. Only 8 of us remained. The names:
Kwiatkowski, Gerrans, Slagter, Boaro, Meintjes, Simon Yates, Caruso. And me.
Obviously still in a tremendously high form from the track, I was still going strong heading onto the final climb in Siena.
When the big guns placed their final acceleration, I was unable to follow. But I fought for every meter. I didn't know a kilometer could last so long, though.
Gerrans was unbeatable at the finish. On the finish photo, you can see me sprinting in the background, to a fifth place.
This has been the perfect debut race for me. It's rather unbelievable, actually. Some days, you have everything going for you. The high form, a super day, great weather... The parcours was pretty perfect for me. Maybe I'm better at those hills than I think. I mean, I suffered on them, but I think we all did and maybe I didn't suffer any more than the next guy.
The DS is still deciding the last spots for Tirreno - Adriatico and this result might put my name on the map, too. He told me it should be too soon for a WT race, but that I'm no ordinary neopro. Coming from the track after a short but successful career, I haven't been doing nothing these past years so, yes, maybe Tirreno wouldn't be a disaster.
Let's wait and see. Let's enjoy this result first. And hope this form doesn't fade too quickly!
Ciao
Antonio
Edited by Ian Butler on 22-04-2017 20:49
Wow, what a fantastic first race Interesting to see Antonio doing well on shorter hills as well
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT] Xero Racing
DiCyc - A dream debut, that's for sure. Was kind of surprised myself, playing the stage
jandal7 - Thanks! His future isn't written yet. It'll be interesting to see what he can do
One more report coming up and then that's it for my good quick-paced-start-of-the-story.
I'm enjoying the racing/PCM more than I thought so I might even make some extra time tomorrow to get a couple more races done. I got a slight injury so I can't really go cycling myself tomorrow anyway.
Sonny Collbrelli
Jan Barta
Laurens De Plus
Felipe Silva
Bruno Maltar
