Back in his Roccaseccawrapped in the warmth of his family, Lorenzo Germanifresh from taking part in the Giro d’Italia, talks about his challenging experience, expressing satisfaction but also some small regret for what more could have been done.
Lorenzo, in your first comment upon arriving in Rome you said that you weren’t the best, but you did everything that could be done. Why?
«Yes, I said that we weren’t the best because that’s how it was, we worked well, but there was always something missing that could have led us to achieve a better result. We weren’t 100% satisfied with this lap, but we still tried to give our best.”
What did you feel when you found out about your participation in the Corsa Rosa?
«When I learned that I had to do the tour I felt a great emotion, last year I had already entered as a reserve, but then I still preferred to do the Vuelta at the end of the year with a season behind me, rather than do a tour with no a lot of experience. After confirming my participation I was looking forward to the moment until we left. During the first stage, I still didn’t believe it. During the tour, sometimes I had to stop for a moment to reflect on what I was doing.”
Maybe your thoughts went to the twenty-one stages, the approximately 3,300 kilometers to cover and the thousands of meters of altitude difference?
«In a certain sense the problem of the 3,000-odd kilometers was the last thing on my mind, in the sense – as we know – that when you leave for a big tour it’s more than 3,000 kilometers and, therefore, you try to prepare yourself as best as possible to face them . It’s obvious that there were stages, on this tour there were many flat ones and many mountain ones, there were no intermediate stages. Yes, obviously, the mountain ones, I’m not saying they were scary, but we knew that they would be tough and, therefore, they had to be tackled with maximum concentration.”
Your strength, perhaps, was also that of feeling close, every day, to your family, your friends and your Roccasecca…
«Yes, my family, my friends and many fans were close to me, they came to see various stages, especially the Avezzano-Napoli one and it was very emotional for me and, in any case, we go to places like Sora and Cassino where along the road there were many people who knew me and shouted my name. It was very beautiful and exciting.”
What do you think was the hardest stage?
«I think the hardest stage was the one that arrived in Livigno on Sunday, at the end of the second week, it was very, very tiring, more than 200 kilometers with 5,500 meters of altitude difference. The most challenging stage ever faced.”
Was there any moment when you thought you couldn’t do it?
«Yes, many times the thought comes into your head that you can’t do it, maybe you don’t feel very well, not in the best condition, but you try to find the right concentration to always move forward, thinking positively».
What kind of environment do you experience inside the pink caravan?
«Racing with great riders who have made and are making the history of cycling is always a great emotion, but even more so at the level of the public that you meet in the streets every day, knowing that you are in the pink caravan, to do a very important race such as that of the Giro d’Italia”.
What are your plans for the immediate future?
«For now the Italian championships at the end of June».
