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LATEST NEWS: LIVE FROM LAKE COMO: ITALY AT THE WORLDS
Gregor Brown
September 9, 2010
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Italy's Paolo Bettini (Photo: Yuzuru Sunada)
Every since Alfredo Binda won the first World Championships in 1927 on the Nürburgring motor circuit in Germany, Italy has always positioned itself as team number 1.
Binda went on to win two more world titles: 1930 in Liège, Belgium, and 1932 in his nation's capital, Rome. His wins, plus one by Learco Guerra, gave Italy four titles in the first 10 years of the World Championships and tied the country with Belgium for the most wins.
The last 10 years of the World Championships tell a similar story. Italy – with wins by Mario Cipollini (2002), Paolo Bettini (2006, 2007) and Alessandro Ballan (2008) – has the most wins, four, alongside Spain.
This historical record, from Binda to Ballan, lets Italians take pride and give so much significance to the World Championships. However, that pride and significance translates into pressure for Italy's head coach and nine riders.
The pressure cracked the Italian team in 2000 and 2001.
Franco Ballerini had just accepted the role as team sports director for the 2001 World Championships in Lisbon. Earlier in the year, he closed a successful career as a cyclist, which included wins at the 1995 and 1998 Paris-Roubaix race. An inter-team rivalry nearly ended his job. Gilberto Simoni was in position to win the race solo, but Paolo Lanfranchi – an Italian – led a group in chase of Simoni. Oscar Freire benefited and won, and Italy's Bettini took second.
Bettini fought back to win twice in 2006 and 2007. He now is the sports director, a role he took over in June following the death of Ballerini in a rally car race.
Bettini may have won the World Championships twice, and one Olympic gold medal, but if he fails as a sports director Italy will have no sympathy. His first task is to select the nine riders who he will take to Geelong, Australia, for the race on October 3.
The task is completely different to that of USA Cycling's. Team USA will lead with sprinter Tyler Farrar, but its problem is filling the other eight spots with men who can help Farrar win and who want to race. Bettini's problem is there are nearly 30 cyclists who want to race in his nine-man time, or even fill the two reserve positions available.
His other problem is deciding how to approach the course. It is 262.7-kilometres: the first 85-kilometre leg from Melbourne to Geelong is flat and the last 11 15.9-kilometre circuits contain two small climbs. It is billed as a sprinters' course, but the two small climbs and a small rise to the finish may favour an attacking rider.
"It is a particular course," said Bettini. "Harder than the one in Madrid in 2005. It makes me think of the 1992 course in Benidorm [Spain], when [Gianni] Bugno won and in the sprint there were not many pure sprinters."
Luckily, for Bettini, the course is "particular" because Italy lacks pure sprinters these days. Though, Alessandro Petacchi sprinted to two stage wins at the Tour de France and one last week at the Vuelta a España, he failed when giving the opportunity to lead the team in 2005 and this year he is embroiled in a doping investigation. The next best sprinter, Daniele Bennati has failed to win a big race since 2008.
Given Bettini's description, there is one cyclist who is up to the job of leading Italy: Filippo Pozzato. Pozzato, or 'Pippo' as he is called, is fast and thrives in demanding conditions. His speed and ability to motor up small climbs have won him Italy's big one-day race, Milano-Sanremo, and two stages at the Tour de France.
Pozzato is also motivated. He even paid his own way to travel with Bettini in July to see the World Championships course in Geelong.
"I had lunch with Paolo [Bettini] the other day and we have been speaking regularly since he took over Ballerini's job," Pozzato said. "I'll let Paolo worry about the team selection, though."
Bettini will likely select faithful helpers Luca Paolini, Giovanni Visconti, Andrea Tonti, Marco Pinotti, Matteo Tosatto and Marzio Bruseghin to support Pozzato. He will also have to make a tough decision and leave at home Italy's brightest rising star, Vincenzo Nibali.
"I'm trustworthy, I've grown a lot as an athlete and as a man," said Nibali. "The others know me well, they know I won't let them down."
Nibali won a stage at Italy's premier three-week stage race this year, the Giro d'Italia, and helped his team-mate Ivan Basso win the overall classification. He is a climber who can time trial very well and at this moment, he is leading team Liquigas at Spain's three-week stage race, the Vuelta a España.
Bettini, however, will let Nibali focus on the Spanish race and likely leave him off his list of nine men. Tuesday, he will announce the nine, and two reserves, who he hopes will continue what Alfredo Binda started 83 years ago in Nürburg.
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