Her approach to Paris so far has been an obstacle course, but the home air of the Baltic Sea has given her new motivation. Anastasia Carbonari with the victory at the Latvian national championship (the third in a row) it must be said that she has put behind her all the physical ailments that have slowed her down and frightened her in recent months.
Carbonari’s film is already seen and experienced – unfortunately for them – by many athletes, especially in recent years. A series of falls and blows that make you never want to get back on the bike and undermine emotional stability more than physical stability. Then the goals you want to reach bring out the determination to recover. At the end of May at Ride London, Anastasia falls, breaks her right collarbone and her participation in the Olympics is at risk. Instead, events follow one another and evolve quickly and positively. While she is waiting for the return flight from Latvia to the Marche, the 24-year-old from UAE Team ADQ tells us about her feelings over the last month and what she will feel in the next few months.
Anastasia starting from current events, you have reconfirmed yourself as national champion. Did you expect it?
No, I have to be honest. I knew I didn’t have a great grip, so much so that I tried to anticipate by going on the run with two Estonians and a Lithuanian (in the Baltic countries there is only one race and the rankings are divided by nation, ed.). When we were caught again, the decisive breakaway started again and unfortunately I missed the moment to enter it. On the other hand, I was coming from a long period of inactivity and I couldn’t ask for more. In the end I reached the final top 10 which guaranteed me the victory. The primary objective, however, was not to fall again and consequently keep the shirt.
Regardless of the outcome, you made a recovery in record time.
Maybe it was a little too fast, but I wanted to run to Voru (in Estonia, ed.) for many reasons. To represent my country and, in my small way, to promote women’s cycling in Latvia which does not yet have a large following. All this was possible thanks to Doctor Di Ruscio’s Pierangeli Clinic and Andrea Masciarelli who put me in contact with them immediately. Just think that on May 25th I broke my collarbone and on the 31st I was already in the operating room. They were all amazing and I can’t thank them enough.
How much did the fear of not being able to go to Paris to get back by bike have an impact?
A lot, I can’t deny it, but it wasn’t easy at all. I had so many negative thoughts. Even if you miss days of competition you get discouraged because you go faster and faster. Then you no longer know if it’s worth the risk of running and getting hurt. When I read your interview with Balsamo, I identified with it. Luckily my family and my boyfriend Riccardo were patient. They put up with me and supported me in every situation. Same thing for my team who never left me alone between physiotherapy and training. Finally two weeks after the operation I was back on the bike.
How do you look forward now?
With many reasons. I wanted to get back quickly also to give a signal to myself. At the beginning of the season I had fallen in the North hitting my knee hard and it took me a long time to get back into shape just before Ride London. If I think that I started again after a collision with a pick-up in Holland two years ago, I think I am now stronger than everything. So now I look forward with confidence, because it can’t always go wrong. I will try to be careful in a group and regain the necessary confidence with the operated armhoping that then everything will come by itself.
What’s on your calendar soon?
At the moment I know that I will do theArgenta Classic in Belgium and in mid-July the Baloise Tour to find the rhythm that only a stage race can give you. Then finally there will be the online test in Paris (August 4th, ed.) and we’ll see how it goes. Of course, the World Championship, although it is very tough, and the European Championship are also on my calendar, but I will think about that later.
Almost four years ago you chose your mother’s nationality precisely to pursue the Olympic dream. How is Anastasia Carbonari coping with the wait?
I must say that the call to these Olympics was a surprise because the criteria for participating are not simple. In fact, in my plans I was counting on those for 2028, but luckily it didn’t go that way. I had some taste of it during the days of the national championship because I was at the Olympic Center in Riga where I had medical examinations and where they took my measurements for official clothes. I needed these emotions to start again and forget moral failures and blows. However until I’m in Paris and in the middle of the inaugural ceremony, I won’t fully realize what I’m about to experience.
