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Stefano Garzelli, Liquigas-Bianchi

13 May 2005

A Stage Race Champion with Style

 

Stefano Garzelli is a classy rider. He is a man of stage racing, winning stages in Tour de Romandie, Pais Vasco, Tour of Switzerland, Giro d'Italia, to name a few tours. Above all, Stefano is known for taking overall honors in the 2000 Giro d'Italia, when he went from domestique to leader, on the team of Marco Pantani. Since the days at Mercatone Uno, Mapei, and Vini Caldirola, Stefano has really come into his own. Now with the newly formed super-squadra Liquigas-Bianchi, he is among some strong friends. Join BiciRace.com as we get down to the details, from Stefano's bikes, to his beloved pizza.

Original Italian Version

Goals and the Giro d'Italia

BiciRace.com:  Ciao Stefano, thanks for taking time out of preparing for the Giro d'Italia to answer some BiciRace.com questions. This year you are with a new squadra. What is the atmosphere like in the Liquigas-Bianchi team?
Stefano Garzelli:  The atmosphere is very good.
BR:  How do you feel for the Giro?
SG:  Thanks to the results obtained by Pellizotti and Di Luca at the beginning of the season, we are able to be more relaxed as we face the Giro.
BR:  What do you think will be the hardest stage of this year's Giro?
SG:  I think that there will be a few difficult stages, definitely the Savigliano - Sestriere, Mezzocorona - Ortisei and the one arriving in Livigno. Besides being hard, they will also be very long.
BR:  Oh yes, the stage to Sestriere, with the dirt road on Finestre, looks difficult. Who do you consider the biggest non-Italian rival?
SG:  There will be many rivals. The non-Italian who is the most accredited is Honchar, who has already demonstrated the ability to get onto the podium. Then there will be some Spaniards to contend with, but I think that for the final victory (GC) it will be a battle amongst Italians.
BR:  Have you heard of Tom Danielson? He is strong, and rides with Paolo Salvodelli on Discovery Channel
SG:  I have heard of Danielson and I know that he is very strong in the climbs. Together with Paolo, they will be a very terrible twosome!
BR:  It should be a good battle for your team. And other major goals for 2005?
SG:  For now we are thinking about the Giro d'Italia, but then probably I will look towards the Vuelta with the objective of bettering my placement of last year.

Bianchi and Santini

BR:  Explain to BiciRace.com about your new Bianchi versus the 2000 Bianchi you won the Giro d'Italia on?
SG:  I think that my Bianchi is really good. With my former Bianchi "Mito", in 3 years I effectively won the most important races of my career: The 1998 Tour of Switzerland, and the 2000 Giro d'Italia.
BR:  Nice wins with Bianchi! So for 2005, is your bike Carbon or aluminum? Or is the frame a mix?
SG:  It will be a combination of a carbon frame and aluminum. Although for the most difficult stages, I must use an all aluminum bicycle frame.
BR:  Does Bianchi have a special new TT bike for the 2005 Giro?
SG:  We have worked really hard on the TT bike, dialing the position and different details, but seeing that the type of course is fairly rough, we have opted for an aluminum Bianchi.
BR:  Will you use that same bike in both the Firenze and Torino TT?
SG:  Yes, because both courses have pretty tough climbs.
BR:  We have noted that you have worn Santini clothing for many years. What can you tell BiciRace.com about Santini?
SG:  Personally, I have never had a problem with Santini clothing. And Santini has decades of experience behind them, which surely means a lot.

Days On The Bike

BR:  Describe for BiciRace.com your best day ever on the bike?
SG:  I think that the best Garzelli that you have seen was at the Giro in 2002, and in particular the stage of Limone Piemonte. I hope this year to be able to obtain the victory again, a victory which for me would be bittersweet.
BR:  And your worst day ever?
SG:  There have been many. Unfortunately cycling is such a difficult sport that if you are not at 100% then most of the time you ride in difficulty, in spite of your level.
BR:  That is part of the beauty of cycling, the difficulty. So, how do you handle the disappointment of falling short of an objective?
SG:  In order to better savour the victories, you need to know how to cope with the defeats. Of course for an athlete who works 6 months to prepare for a big stage race, there aren't so many possibilities to go back and do it over, this is the opposite for riders who race 1-day races. If you ride poorly on Sunday, quickly afterwards there is another stage.

Good Food and Caffè

BR:  When you were growing up, at what point did you realize you were destined to be a pro bike racer?
SG:  I started racing at the age of 10, following in my brother Marco's footsteps, who now is my manager. Until I was 18, it had always been for fun. Then I saw that my results continued to be good, even with the jump to a professional category. I began to think that this passion could also turn into my job. I didn't believe that I would ever be able to obtain the results that I have today: Winning a Giro d'Italia surely doesn't happen to everyone.
BR:  Congratulations, your 2000 Giro win was huge! And what was your first bike like?
SG:  It was red, a Migliani bike, it was the name of a shop in Varese that no longer exists.
BR:  When you are not training, what is your Favorite meal?
SG:  I love pizza, unfortunately I often have to give it up, but it's usually the first thing that I eat after the Giro's over, since I stop eating it during the months of preparation and for 3 weeks of racing.
BR:  Well, afterwards you can enjoy pizza even more! What kind of music do you like?
SG:  I don't have a particular taste in music. Let's say that I like all good music.
BR:  Do you like American Music?
SG:  Also American music, but nothing specifically.
BR:  So where do you call home? BiciRace.com has heard that you live in Spain now.
SG:  Spain has become my second home. I have found a place near Valencia where I spend the winter season. I have noticed that the climate allows me to train without any problems. For the rest of the year, I divide my time training on the roads between Italy and Switzerland.
BR:  A wise training program, it gets sort of cold in Italy. So, in Spain do you train alone?
SG:  No, Even in Spain I train with some pros in the area. While in Italy, I ride with Nardello, Andriotto, Zanini, Mason, Peron, etc. All of them come from Varese.
BR:  OK, most importantly, how is the caffè in Spain versus Italy?
SG:  There aren't very many differences. It's pretty good in Spain. The only thing is that in Spain I have discovered Bon bon, which is coffee and condensed milk, instead of using sugar.
BR:  Thanks for talking with www.BiciRace.com. Please visit our site!

Be sure to check Stefano Garzelli out at his personal website.