Recently on Cyclingnews.com |
 Giro finale Photo ©: Bettini |
Marco Saligari – The Commisar's Report
 |
Marco Saligari was a pro for 12 years, where he earned the nickname “Il Commisario” for his ability to astutely read a race and provide leadership on the road for his team-mates. Since the beginning of this year Marco has been the director of sport for Colnago-Landbouwkrediet, a squad of 23 riders, most of whom are “neoprofessionisti” or young riders. Saligari will be writing a column this year for Cyclingnews.com
Index to Marco Saligari diary entries
Rolf's Flanders swansong
April 7, 2002: Brugge, Belgium
After starting the season with races in France and Italy, we've finally arrived at the racing campaign in Belgium. We began with Three Days Of De Panne; the launching pad for our first big race of the season, the Tour of Flanders (Ronde van Vlandeeren). And it's this importantissima race that I want to tell you about...
In a climate that was almost nordic, our eight riders (the most we were allowed to start with) started the second round of the World Cup. Of the 260km on the race program, the strong wind at the start made things difficult in the first 100km of Flanders, a race that, with its 16 steep pavé climbs, is more technical from the my point of view than Paris-Roubaix and Liege-Bastogne-Liege.
Rolf Sorensen, our best rider for the Tour of Flanders was one of the protagonists when the race heated up, even though he punctured at a delicate moment. With Sorensen, seven other riders were in the break and in the finale, Museeuw, Hincapie, Van Petegem and Tafi were there, with Tafi taking off in the last three kilometers for the solo win. Sorensen ended up sixth: not bad at all, considering he is 37 years old and it's likely to be his last season, as we discussed the evening before the race. Since it was probably his last Flanders, he was extra motivated to ride well.
I enjoyed the huge enthusiasm of the Tour Of Flanders spectators... when you see that many people out to watch a race it makes you realize that the story of ciclismo will be continuing!
A Presto
Marco
