New calendar, same road goals for Elia Viviani
Pro cycling’s racing hiatus may end up pushing back Elia Viviani’s objectives on the road this year, but assuming events actually go ahead as planned, the Cofidis speedster still has the same big goals in mind that he was eyeing before a pandemic upended the calendar.
Viviani addressed his targets for 2020 – and other things – in an interview with the Corriere della Sera this week, noting that he remains focused on Milan-San Remo, the Tour de France, and the Giro d’Italia.
San Remo has long been a target for the 31-year-old Italian, who has finished as highly as ninth there, in 2017. The Italian Monument is currently scheduled for August 8 but media reports suggest that the Italian cycling federation is looking into the possibility of moving it back to August 22.
“I redid the program several times, while changing the calendar, but the goal remains the goal of Via Roma,” Vivivani told the Corriere della Sera. “I remain skeptical of the idea of ??getting there on August 8th without races and twenty days after the Tour; then it would be better to race it on the 22nd. Let’s wait for the official decision.”
In any case, the Tour will be the next big objective of Viviani’s season, particularly now that he is racing for a French team—but Viviani is also hoping to shine at the Giro, which comes after this year’s Tour due to the calendar reshuffling.
Viviani counts five career stage wins at the Giro, with four of them coming from his 2018 appearance at the race.
“The Tour is the priority,” he said. “But I would like to return to the Giro with the spirit of 2018, full gas from start to finish and with the maglia ciclamino on my shoulders.”
The one major objective that Viviani won’t be focusing on in 2020 is the track events at the Olympics, with the Tokyo Games now pushed back to next year. Viviani does plan on getting back to training in the velodrome soon.
Speaking of training, Viviani is expecting to take on altitude training starting in July.
In the meantime, Viviani is thankful that he continues to receive his salary, pointing out, “I am lucky because so far I have received full wages, reductions of 15 to 20 percent are foreseen only if the season does not start at all.”
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