With two Italian title sponsors, it is important that I race in Italy as much as possible. Most of their important races happen before May, which is why I am spending a lot of the pre-season there. The biggest series in Italy is sponsored by Liquigas, the nations gas distributor. These are probably some of the fastest UCI E1 races, perhaps now even better then the long renowned Swiss Cup series! So understandable, I have been asked to try to race as well as possible. Of course for me, early season form has not been easy to come by, but with my trip to NZ to kick things off, this year is going better.


28 Mar 04 -GRAND FONDO DEL MONTELLO -Volpago del Montello (TV)
Result: 7th

This was my first taste of an Italian Grand Fondo (Marathon type event for the masses). Unlike in most countries, races like this in Italy are normally only around 1.5-2hrs. This one was 45km, but mostly on fast hard packed dirt roads, and fast, but fun, singletracks.
I was expecting an easy race, but then I saw that the complete Full Dynamics team was there, as well as Johann Pallhuber and my team mate Thomas Dietsch. From the start it was Marco Bui (Full Dynamics) setting the pace, and eventually Johan, Thomas and myself joined him to form a nice breakaway group. The race went in and out of fast single track sections, with many short sharp climbs.
At half way my problem streak continued as my cable slipped on the front derailleur. As it happened I remembered that when trying to fix yesterdays shifter problem, I had loosened this screw!!! Well, at least today I managed to fix the problem, but it was too late to catch the charging front pack again. I rode hard behind and eventually finished 2min down in 7th. Thomas did an awesome job by taking the win for his second of the season already!

27 Mar 04 - LIQUIGAS CUP, San Romano Garfagnana (Lucca)
Result: DNF

My legs were feeling shit hot in the warm up before the race, and then on the first climb I knew I was onto something when I was able to ride easy with the leaders! This only happens to me when I have super great legs. Then, coming into the first cobble stone village section my front shifter just died on me, and I was left standing on the side of the track trying to solve the problem. There was nothing I could do, so I just rolled back to the start. Our mechanic, Gabrial Rossi, examined the shifter and found a problem inside. I have since talked to many of my friends that used these shifters for over 1 year now, and no one has ever experienced this before... what's the chances of that eh!
I was pretty frustrated to say the least, so after a 1hr road ride with intervals up every little climb I could find, I decided to go with Thomas to another race on Sunday... I needed to feed the fire!

21 Mar 04 - GEARNE TROPHIE, Maser
Result: 4th

What a cool course! 4 laps of a huge climb, and then a wicked decent. This is the way I like races to be! The climb was mostly on ashvelt roads, but that just means you get up quicker!
I didn't have a great start, (partly due to wiping out on a slippery ashvelt road corner.. ouch), but once the second lap arrived I was feeling great. I managed to reach the leading bunch by lap 3, but by then, I was starting to tire a little. I put in a good turn on the front to try to help my team mate, Julian Absalon, then after that I was just struggling to hang on. When the final attacks came near the top of the final climb I had nothing left, and had to settle for 4th. But the descents rocked! Oh yea, and Julian won :)

29th Feb – 9th March – Bianchi/Agos training camp, Terracina
Result: lots of great pasta J .

Now it was time to really meet the new team, and get things sorted for the season.
Unlike my past teams, Bianchi’s training camp was much more actually about training, and less about sponsors, photos, marketing etc… Terracina is about 1hr south of Rome, so even in February the weather is normally around 15-20dC. Just perfect for long days in the saddle!

The manager of the team is Massimo Ghirotto. He is an ex-pro road rider, having won stages in the Tour de France and Giro d’Italia. Massimo has led team Bianchi ever since I can remember! The mechanic’s are Gabriel Rossi, who also races cyclo-cross in the winter, and Franchesco Baggio. Silvano Davo is our soigneur, and with 25 years experience on the pro road circuit, I think we are in good hands! Julian Absalon needs no introduction! After 3 world titles (Junior and U23) and winning the world cup overall last year, he is clearly one of the best mountain bikers in the world. Thomas Dietsch is the team’s marathon distance specialist, having won most of Europe’s biggest events. If it were not for a puncture in the final 3km of the 2003 Marathon World Champs, he would have been sure to win! But he seems stronger then ever, so I am sure we will see some more great results. Emil Lindgren is last years Swedish junior champion. This is the guy that Helena's younger brother, Johan, had to compete against all of last year! Emil did his first race as a U23 in Brescia and managed 2nd, 13th overall! Simone Lanteri is the Italian representative, and is hoping to make the Italian U23 team for the Worlds. He also races some down hill and dual, and is an apprentice in technical drawing.

Everyone seems really easy going, yet very professional. This team has the feeling of success in its blood, and they want more! It’s a perfect environment for me, to buckle down and get serious about some results this year!

28th Feb - Liguigas Cup, Brescia
Result: DNF

So, finally the time came to arrive at the first team event of the year. While this was an important event, it was still February, and sure enough, the weather remembered that fact! It snowed heavily the day before, and since the course was held mostly inside a huge castle (cobble stones, stairs, ramps, and tunnels!), it was darn slippery. But this just made for a more interesting race in the end, as the skilled riders had a huge advantage.

It was my first Italian Cup ever, and the course was apparently quite typical. Many short climbs, very technical, and big groups of riders staying together for much of the race. I managed to race well for the first 2 laps, staying amongst the first 3 the whole time. But it was amazing to look back, as even after two laps there were still probably 20 riders within 30sec! Finally the pace got too much for me, and I could no longer attack the each climb so hard. I slipped backwards, and eventually faded even more. It was pretty muddy, and with a lack of attention on the final lap I managed to suck my rear derailleur up into the wheel! Oh well, nothing lost. (Except a nice new XTR rear derailleur.. sorry guys!)

My new teammates, Julian Absalon and Thomas Dietch finished 2nd and 6th respectively.