BACK TO RACES

Here the days are passing by so fast and Sunday - or better the day on which I will go back home - is approaching. My next race is already scheduled: I will take part in the Tour de Wallonie in Belgium from July 24^th to July 28^th. In order to refine my shape I put the main focus during the training sessions on the quality instead of on the quantity.

The first 10 days in the training camp passed by fast and without meeting obstacles. The weather was nice, as well as the company in the hotel and during the training. I feel a little bit the nostalgia for home but being a cyclist it is normal to pass more nights in hotels than in your on bed.

DOLOMITI

My training period here at the Fedaia Pass will be over soon. On Saturday I did a six hours ride through the beautiful mountains. Like you already know I love this region and I think that it is one of the most beautiful parts of our Alps. Waking up in the morning at the feet of the Marmolada is priceless. The queen of the Dolomites definitely has little competitors. Furthermore I am in good company : we are a nice group of cyclists so that the days and the training hours are passing by really fast.

RELAX

The Italian Championships concluded the first part of the season. Now I can allow myself a short break. Fortunately I was able to proceed like it had been planned. I didn`t have to confront any obstacles or injuries that would have obliged me to change my plans. For that reason I didn`t complain after Saturday. Until Wednesday I rode my bike but from yesterday on I am at the sea in order to relax. Like I said before, it will be just a short break will remain for two weeks.
Thanks once more to Davy and all the others that contributed to support the Città della Speranza.

Italian Championships

Last weekend I took part in the Italian Championships. It was a really hard and long day for me. I had already felt tense before the start and at the same time I had been focused because it was a good opportunity to achieve a good result. Right from the first kilometers I felt being in a good shape and without really wanting it I found myself in the first breakaway of the day. Obviously I knew that this attack was too early to be determining but I also was aware that staying together with these 20 riders would allow me to ride the 264,58km at a constant rhythm without jerks and without the stress caused by riding in the peloton. I rode attentively, just changing velocity from time to time. Furthermore I focused on drinking and eating when necessary because the length of the race didn`t allow any mistakes.
After being caught I realized that the climb of Cà dal Poggio was too hard for me. If there had been an attack during the last round, I probably wouldn`t have been able to follow. Therefore I decided to put all my eggs into one basket and consequently I attacked once more. I was able to break away alone, then Mori and Sella joined me. Unfortunately the group behind us was still composed of many riders and the teams organized themselves. It`s a pity! In my opinion the race would have been different if we had had just 20 seconds more…
I risked loosing with the hope to win. In any case like that I have been protagonist during the whole day and I returned the affection of my fans. They supported me a lot J
Congratulations to Visconti: He really was the strongest rider in the peloton.

FIFTH PLACE

Once again I finished a race among the firsts. Yesterday`s GP du canton d`Argovie was really nice and spectacular: A difficult circuit that had to be ridden eleven times and the heat made an additional selection. Lap by lap the peloton declined and at the last climb I decided to take matters into my own hands. Attacking I managed to form a group of six riders but once again I couldn`t maximize the result. Everybody controlled Haussler and me, therefore we had to reply to each attack and Vandewalle managed to anticipate us. I regret that even though having good legs and climbing well I couldn`t take advantage of my good shape. I just can hope that this good placement here in Switzerland is a good omen for the upcoming Tour de Suisse. During the 10 stages I will have for sure the opportunity to play to the gallery.

READY TO SWITZERLAND

For the next day I will stay in Switzerland: sunday riding the Grand Prix du canton d'Argovie in Gippingem and from 12 to 20 june riding the Tour of Switzerland. After the bud luck in the Tour of Belgium I hope to do a good race and get a great result.

AT HOME

Sunday evening I arrived back home after the Tour de Picardie. I suppose you are already well informed about it, so I just give you a short summary.

1st stage: Boué – Doullens (181km): The stage was distinguished by a long breakaway of three riders. We had to work really hard to catch them and then, during the final, Bozic and I tried to achieve a good result in the field sprint. Bozic crossed the finish line 14th position, I sprinted to 15th. I am satisfied because I felt quite good during the stage.

2nd stage: Friville-Escarbotin-Belloy – Cires-lès-Mello (186km): Saturday`s stage also finished with a field sprint. With 3km to go and while fighting to cover Bozic a crash occurred. Fortunately I didn`t fall but I had to slow down and therefore I could´t take part in the final sprint.
3rd stage: Crépy-en-Vallois – Sissonne (174km): The last stage ended in a field sprint as well. As the weather conditions have been perfect and as there weren`t any climbs, everbody had the chance to take part in the final sprint and consequently there were once more many crashes due to the nervous atmosphere.
Even though I couldn`t place myself among the firsts, I had three competition days in a row. Now I will spent some calmer days before starting my preparation for the Tour of Belgium.