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Hitting the big time: The Stefano Garzelli Journal 2004
Stefano Garzelli's comeback may have surprised some last year, but the talented all-around rider from Varese showed his strong second place comeback ride in the Giro d'Italia was no fluke. In his Cyclingnews diary the easygoing 30 year old Vini Caldirola-Nobili Rubineterie rider will document his attempt to move up a step on the Giro d'Italia podium for 2004.
Gearing up for the Giro
Home, Mendrisio, Switzerland, April 15, 2004
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Hello Cyclingnews readers, how are you doing? Here's an update on what I've been doing the past few weeks...
Me and my Vini Caldirola-Nobili Rubinetterie team-mate, Oscar Mason, went to look at some Giro stages. We really had some beautiful rides in the Dolomiti. I don't think we'll be able to admire the scenery during the sixteenth stage of the Giro on Tuesday, May 25, because it will be a very tough stage. Falzarego, Valparola, Furcia and Terento, with the last climb just a few kilometers from the finish in Falzes. I hope all this training will be useful during the Giro!
Falzarego is a long climb, but it's not too difficult, like the next ascent of the Valparola. But when we get to the Furcia, that one has some steep sections. The sixteenth stage will be a world of pain! You need at least a 23 for the Furcia and then, after 200 kilometers of racing, there's the climb of Terento and its hairpin turns of 10-11 percent will make you suffer. I'd like to come back sometime in winter for a vacation with my wife Maria. I've always like to ski; when I was a seven year old kid, I used to go skiing with my school club. Corvara, Livigno, Madonna di Campiglio are some of the places we used to go to.
At the Hotel Alpenhof in Rasun di Sotto, Mason and I stayed with the team staff and the morning before we set out on our training rides, my new De Rosa was delivered! Man what a sweet bike! The new De Rosa Cinquanta weighs only 7.1 kilograms, so I thanked Cristiano De Rosa who brought the bike from Milano, but as soon as I see his dad Ugo, I'll thank him too for such a special machine.
After the Dolomiti, I went with my wife Maria to the Appenine to see the Corno alle Scale finish of stage three and then up to the mountains behind Bergamo to see the Presolana and Mortirolo. Corno alle Scale will be important because already, you'll be able to see who is strong enough to win the Giro, while on the stage with the Presolana and Mortirolo, you'll see then who has won the Giro.
It was nice to have my wife Maria with me when I was training. It was the first time and I know that for her, it hasn't been easy to have a husband who is often travelling for his work. That's why we have a new cocker spaniel puppy named "Simba" to keep her company when I'm away.
OK, thanks for reading!
Ciao,
Stefano
Photography
Images by Yuzuru Sunada/www.yuzurusunada.com
- Showing a bit of leg - Stefano Garzelli gets one of his pins tested.
- The Hotel Alpenhof was where Garzelli and his Vini Caldirola-Nobili Rubinetterie team-mate, Oscar Mason, stayed during their time in the Dolomiti.
- Team-mate Oscar Mason proved a solid training companion as he and Garzelli reconnoitered the mountain stages of the upcoming Giro d'Italia.
- Stefano Garzelli's new De Rosa Cinquanta road bike, tipping the scales at 7.1 kilograms.
- Stefano Garzelli's new De Rosa King time trial bike.
