Photo Essay: Team Italia meet up in Torbole
Torbole is a lovely, quiet town at the north end of Lake Garda in Italy’s Trentino province.
Davide Cassani’s Italian selection for the 2018 world championships set up camp there to fine-tune the riders’ preparation, build team spirit, and create the right atmosphere to move to Innsbruck on Thursday and try to take the rainbow jersey on Sunday.
Team training camps are always a mix of training, gear testing and preparation, alongside some free time for the riders and staff to relax together. Tuesday was the first day at the lovely Aktivhotel Santa Lucia, where mechanics found a great environment to work on the bikes, as this is a bike hotel ready to welcome riders with all the necessary tools and a dream work area.
After a generous breakfast, the riders were ready to head out on a four-hour group ride, which would include the Monte Velo climb. It’s a 10-kilometer climb with a steady 8-9 percent gradient. Alessandro Bertolini, a former pro rider living near Torbole, helped Cassani from the car, deciding the route and leading the group in the right direction. He knows Monte Velo like his own backyard and says it’s the perfect climb to test your condition. The Team Italia riders cruised for the first 5-6 kilometers and then increased the intensity for the last part. Everyone was invited to the watts party, aside from Gianni Moscon and Gianluca Brambilla, who preferred to take it easier.
Back at the hotel, the riders ate a light lunch, got massages and participated in interviews with the many journalists around.
Want to see what the Italian team’s day in Torbole looked like? Take a look at the gallery below!
Let’s go riding – four hours with the Monte Velo climb in the middle for the riders
to test and fine-tune their form before heading to Innsbruck.
And at the end, time for journalists to try to get some secrets from the team.
