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21 June 2005

21 June News ...

Longing for the Giro (Verlangen naar de Giro)

New book by Gijs Zandbergen and Marco Pinotti

BiciRace.com presents Gijs Zandbergen, co-author of Longing for the Giro (Verlangen naar de Giro). Gijs describes how a unique connection to Marco Pinotti (Saunier Duval - Prodir) inspired him with the idea to co-write a book together with Marco. The book is called Verlangen naar de Giro, or Longing for the Giro. It's currently only available in Dutch, but the demand is sure to make it available in other languages. Below is an introduction to this book by the Dutch journalist, Gijs Zandbergen.

Intro by Gijs Zandbergen

In the summer of 2003 I accidentally came into contact with Marco Pinotti, a rider whose name I vaguely remembered from a hard fall in the Tour de France of 2002. Pinotti had fallen again in the Bicicleta Vasca [2003], a race somewhere in Spain, and I decided to send him an e-mail, in which I wished him all the best.

To be honest, I forgot about him after that, until I got another e-mail from his webmaster, who told me that Marco had recovered and had started to race again. This I thought so uplifting, that I sent him a new e-mail in which I wished him success at the restart of his career.

Out of this contact grew a correspondence which became more open in every letter. The emails' style blended Dutch no-nonsense with Italian passion. We are both authors who love cycling, without closing our eyes for the sharp and unpleasant parts of the sport. Pinotti (29 year-old) as a professional rider and I (52) as a critical journalist, with some knowledge in the sport. Not having been involved in cycling for a living, except as a writer of some books about the sport, I could write whatever I wanted in my letters, tell Marco anecdotes and give opinions, without having to think about my relationship with cycling, because there was not any. My living is writing as a (non-cycling) journalist for a Dutch newspaper called de Volkskrant.

In the beginning we wrote the emails purely out of pleasure. The idea of publishing them came later, when I realized that Pinotti was just an average guy. He is like every cycling fan who loves riding and dreamed of being a professional rider. After some letters I realized that we were making something special. I was writing about cycling in a way that had never been done before. The proof is the book Verlangen naar de Giro, which is receiving some good reviews, and at this moment there are negotiations going on about a translation into German. In the future there should be a translation into Italian.

Shortly before the start of the 2005 Giro d'Italia, at my request, Marco wrote an extra chapter, which was published in de Volkskrant (in Dutch) on 6 May 2005. Here is part of that letter [see below], which was not in the book's first printing, but is sort of an extra chapter. In this chapter Marco tells about his preparation for his debut in the 2005 Giro d'Italia.

Extra Chapter by Marco Pinotti (English Version)
Extra Chapter by Marco Pinotti (Original Version in Dutch)

Verlangen naar de Giro is published by Tirion
ISBN 90 4390 696 4
14,95€

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21 June News ...