We reached out by phone Marino AmadoriItalian coach in charge of the Under23 national team, to draw up an initial assessment of this season for our young people: “If we look at our movement in general, Piganzoli, Pellizzari and Tiberi have shown some good things. Already being at these levels means that we are on the right path, they are guys who can compete to win a Grand Tour tomorrow“.
You know Tiberi well. Strong since he was young that he is finding his dimension even among the adults. What do you expect from him?
“Antonio has the basic characteristics to be great in stage races, he is strong both in the time trial and uphill and has good recovery. He is in a strong team and alongside him he has a rider like Caruso as I think he is one of the strongest in terms of experience and Tiberi couldn’t find better than that. All of this must clearly be combined with great mental strength and character growth that will happen with time and with the right people at your side.”
Pellizzari stood out at TOTA, after finishing 2nd in 2023 at the Tour de l’Avenir: he seems much improved, do you think he’s ready to take flight?
“Pellizzari is coming to the Giro for his first experience, it’s a three-week race and so everything will be to be discovered. He’s in a team that doesn’t put any kind of pressure on him and therefore he will be able to run calmly. It will be a Giro that he will have to discover day by day and then take stock at the end of the race. It will be important to finish it and achieving some stage victories would be a great success for Giulio.”
Piganzoli, on the other hand, seems slightly further behind than Tiberi and Pellizzari: what is he missing?
“He is a boy who is maturing year by year and has similar characteristics to those of Tiberi. Davide is also a boy to discover and is in a formation that will certainly allow him to have a good experience in a Grand Tour.”
Did you expect something more from our U23s at this start of the season?
“De Cassan is another interesting rider in addition to those already mentioned. There are several of our guys who race abroad and who have shown some good results. Savino won the stage at the Ardennes Circuit (the third, ed.) which is a prestigious race. Kajamini won both in San Vendemiano and Biella and demonstrated that he can be competitive uphill, without clearly forgetting the Bardiani boys like Pinarello who won the Palio del Recioto, a race with a good parterre of runners”.
Busatto and Buratti, after the good things shown by U23, what impression did they make on you among the professionals and where do you think they can go?
“Busatto also showed some good things, as did Buratti who is moving well. They are kids who have the characteristics and qualities to grow well and therefore to be able to get there, it takes the right consistency and the support of the teams which therefore give these kids the opportunity to aspire to certain results.”
For the Giro NextGen and the Tour de l’Avenir can you give us some names with which you think you can go after the podium, or will the ambitions be scaled back this year compared to 2023?
“I think that for the Giro NextGen we have a chance to do well with Pinarello, Kajamini and Scalco. It’s a NextGen Giro that isn’t too hard in terms of the route and there will be 8/9 teams at the start who will be the Development teams of the WorldTour and therefore there will be guys who already have a good amount of experience. For the Tour de l’Avenir these are always the names that I will take into consideration and then I will evaluate whether to bring Pellizzari who I know would be keen to return after last year’s experience. I will try to put together a team equipped to be protagonists and after the Giro we will make the necessary assessments.”
What kind of runner is Lorenzo Finn?
“They told me he is very good, but it takes patience. He is young and he races among the juniors so we need the right calm and we need to give him time to grow”.
What are your thoughts on Lorenzo Mottes?
“He has excellent qualities and in perspective he is one of those guys I would like to focus on. We have some interesting first years as well as Donati and Borgo who are 2005 and have already shown something important in the important races”.
Stefano Viezzi, a great promise in cyclocross, do you think he can also do well on the road? What features does it have?
“We need to understand what he wants to do when he grows up. He has shown that he is already at a high level in cyclocross and I think that he can also speak for himself on the road.”
Do you already have a shortlist of names in mind for the U23 World Championship, which will take place on a challenging course?
“We looked at the route, I have a fairly large list of riders in my head, but among all Busatto and De Pretto are two guys who would like to make the Under23 World Championship useful for their growth. The route suits him and we will evaluate along the way; after the Avenir I will put the team together to try to be protagonists and have a good World Cup.”
