Mario Cipollini concerned about Team Italy
Paolo Bettini took over this year as the Italian national cycling coach, and his first team for the World Champions has already received some criticism, namely from 2002 world champion Mario Cipollini.
"Looking at the riders he's chosen for the Italian team, they seem to be people he knows really well, rather than riders who are on form and best suited to the course in Melbourne.”
Bettini took the team to Geelong, Australia on Thursday to preview the course for the UCI Road World Championships circuit. The competition will begin on September 29 and the finale will be the Elite Men’s road race on October 3, a 262.7km point-to-point
course from Melbourne to Geelong, finishing with 11 laps of a hilly 16km circuit.
"We all wanted to get out there on the circuit and ride it," said Bettini. "The impression that I had on my visit in July was confirmed today: it's a demanding circuit, characterised by wind."
Italy is the top performer of the decade in the World Championships, winning four of the last ten editions. This year, the national team is led by Filippo Pozzato and Vuelta a Espana winner Vincenzo Nibali. Despite the good record, Cipollini is doubtful
it will continue.
"The World Championships is a very special race but I'm not sure if Italy has a good chance of winning this year," said Cipollini to
Cyclingnews. “I'm not criticising Bettini because I think he's a good national coach and the right person to take Franco Ballerini's place.”
Three of the team members had previewed the course with the coach in July: Pozzato, Luca Paolini and Giovanni Visconti. A fourth cyclist had been with them, sprinter Daniel Bennati, but he was ultimately not chosen for the team, and Cipollini shared the
riders disappointment, saying he would have been an asset if the race ends with a bunch sprint.
"Nobody really knows what the course will be like. I've heard that it will be as hard as the Tour of Flanders but the World Championships is always a pretty controlled race," said Cipollini. "I'm sure Mark Cavendish is going there thinking he can win it
and so Bettini should have selected a sprinter too. Daniele Bennati seemed on form at the Vuelta, so he should have been included in the Italian team.”
It is also telling that the coach has expressed uncertainty as to team leader Pozzato’s form. The 29-year-old Team Katusha cyclist has only one season victory, a stage win in the Giro d’Italia early in the season. His performance in the Vuelta was low-key,
besides a single third-place stage finish, which was won by Philippe Gilbert, a favourite for the Worlds.
“I'd put money on either [Oscar] Freire or Gilbert pulling on the rainbow jersey,” said Cipollini. “Freire was hiding at the Vuelta but he's at his most dangerous when he's hiding because it means he's working on his form and serious about his big objective.
Gilbert looks good and has proved he knows how to win big races by going on the attack and in a sprint."
Oscar Freire will be competing for their fourth World Champion title in Geelong. The 34-year-old Spanish Rabobank rider has said he plans on fighting for that title.
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