Photo: © Aldo di Luca

Vai Dani! The Danilo Di Luca Diary

Italian speedster Danilo Di Luca from the Saeco-Longoni Sport Team is one of the sport's most exciting riders. Never afraid to attack and a very confident rider, Di Luca is at home in both hilly classics and bunch finishes. His first diary for Cyclingnews was during the 2002 the Vuelta a España, where he won a stage and had several top finishes. Di Luca will continue his popular diary entries throughout the 2003 season.

Danilo Di Luca's official website - www.danilodiluca.com

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The Spirit of Denis

January 29, 2003

Hi Everybody,

It's been over two weeks since Saeco was at our training camp in Terracina in central Italy, near Rome. The temperature was high enough to let us go on longer rides, and we can forget the cold weather. Riding the bike can help you deal with the difficulties in life.

In this diary entry, I don't want to talk about training, VO2max, heart rates of climbs...since I'm sure these things will come up during the rest of the year. Instead, I want to talk about the terrible event that has occurred in pro cycling; the death of Denis Zanette and the clamorous polemic that came afterwards...

I knew him well, Denis Zanette, very well. And my fellow riders Rebellin, Bartoli and Petacchi have spoken well and rightly about their teammate who they held in high esteem as a man and as a rider. Now that some time has passed after the tragic events, I have to stop and think about this...what happened, well it reminds me of the old saying "destiny isn't fair".

I think of the things written about Denis Zanette after his tragic death...well I have to put out my opinion here: the suspicions of doping that swirled around his death really made me angry and upset. It's too bad that in this sense, cycling is wide open to this type of insinuation and innuendo. Instead of crying of the bad luck of this person who was full of life and his family, a slew of disgusting innuendos were thrown around about Zanette.

I'd like to ask someone from the NAS (Italian Carabineri doping squad), if someone from their family died like Zanette, would they have accepted similar treatment? I really doubt it, and I find the way this matter was handled a real scandal!

I don't think it's so important to know how good of an athlete Denis was; the only thing that counts is that his spirit is inside us to overcome the tough times, like when we're struggling over a slippery parch of pavé.

Sincerely,
Danilo Di Luca