Last Saturday the Italian road championships were held: I was looking forward to this event and had high expectations, but the day did not go as I had hoped…
A few months ago I read with great pleasure that the Italian road championships would take place in Darfo Boario Terme, the news immediately made me happy for several reasons: first of all, I have pleasant memories related to this location because right there, in 2013 (reviewing this date I felt a bit old!) and in 2016, I won the Italian championships in the U15 and junior categories; moreover, it is located quite close to my home, since I have moved to Lake Iseo for a few years now.
We decided to put a red circle on this race, and the approach began with a route check at the end of May. I knew that the race would be hard and selective, but the not-too-long climbs, although with challenging gradients, left me hopeful of a sprint finish by a small group. The race went as we had imagined: with the UAE making the pace from the first kilometers for their captain Elisa Longo Borghini who decided to attack on the longest climb with 40km to go, with her were the other two strong climbers Monica Trinca Colonel and Eleonora Ciabocco. Unfortunately, my feelings were not good and as soon as the pace picked up I lost contact with the firsts, staying in the second group that never managed to close the gap to the first three. I’m very sorry because I was looking forward to this Italian championship and dreamed of wearing the tricolor jersey again, but I would like to congratulate the first three because they had a great race and their result is more than deserved!
Disappointment was felt for a few days because after a period of great work I was hoping to arrive at this appointment with a great condition, however, we are not machines and in sports you have to be able to cope even with bad days. Despite this I have to admit that there were also some positive aspects on this day that cheered me up and made me think about the importance of the support we athletes receive: it was very nice to have in support my family and many of my friends who cheered for me on the toughest climbs, also I was pleasantly impressed by the number of fans at the roadside who made me feel their support even tho I was not in my best condition!
You never stop to amaze me, and on Saturday I even received a beautiful picture with my portrait on it. You can’t imagine how important it is to have your cheer, and on the other hand, I hope to give you great emotions soon!
In fact, there is no absence of goals, and right now I’m in Andorra with my team for an altitude training camp to prepare for the Tour de France. These will be days of hard work in anticipation of one of the most important races on the calendar in which I dream of winning a stage.