MEALTIME. THAT INTERVIEW, THAT LOVE STORY

HISTORY | 03/12/2024 | 08:10
di Marco Pastonesi
He was brilliant. He was witty. He was cheerful. He was beautiful. He was a rider. He was. Because for two days now Crescenzo D'Amore is no more. He left like a sprinter, not on two but on four wheels, and it's still unclear why. Cycling is a back and forth, a coming and going, a ready-set-go and a white horizontal line so temporary that half an hour later it no longer exists, as if that race, that avenue, that finish line were just an illusion, a mirage, a trick of the light. Names and surnames, often nicknames.
Looks, smiles and grimaces. Tans. Questions and answers, meetings and interviews, round pedaling and square words, or vice versa, round words and square pedaling: you see each other, you study each other, you mirror each other, you reflect, you recognize each other.
Sometimes a friendship is born, even between journalists and riders, more often a memory. This time I find him on the internet. An interview with Crescenzo D'Amore, published on October 24, 2010. For "La Gazzetta dello Sport". October, November, and December were the months when riders would unplug. They would rest, recover, return to life - the normal life, not the special life of riders - of everyday. Some would go on vacation, some would stay home, some would still ride bikes and some would already stop riding, some would dream and some would plan. Winter riders: all at home. A good opportunity to hear them, with more tranquility, with more depth.
More than champions, I was interested in the others. Like Crescenzo: from Pomigliano, junior world champion in 1997. He could have been a Cipollini, he could have been worth a Freire, he could have competed with Petacchi.
He could. Instead, partly he could not, partly he did not want to. Because cycling is being able to want, is wanting to be able, and only if you can and want, you fly. The D'Amore story was restarting after three years of emptiness, absence, lack. I called him, he answered. Like this.
D'Amore, what happened?
"It was 2007, I was racing for Lauretana. Uncertain race schedule, then a fall in France, and I lost the desire. I would tell myself: cycling is not everything in life, it's a parenthesis, the parenthesis is closed, and I'll start living again".
What did you do?
"First a representative for hairdressers, then a representative for an industrial cleaning and disposable products company. It was going quite well. But there were some complications".
What kind?
"With my girlfriend. The wedding fell through. And the job fell through too. Everything was tied to her. For a period I did nothing. And that's when the desire for bicycle came back".
Like this?
"I became a spinning instructor in a gym in Aversa. And I still do it. It's fun. An indoor aerobic activity, on stationary bikes, following a musical rhythm. You sweat. You unload body and mind. An antidepressant. For everyone, from children up. To keep in shape and clear your head".
Then?
"One day I was at an event honoring Gino Bartali. I meet an old friend, journalist and writer, actually a doctor: Gian Paolo Porreca. I confide in him: I'd like to restart. And he: I'll help you. He introduces me to Gianni Savio. He tells me he liked me as a rider, that he wants to make a bet with me, and hires me. In 2011 I'll race for Androni".
And when did you start racing?
"Twenty years ago. It was 1991. And that time too it was for a bet - you know, we Neapolitans are like that - with my father. I was 12 and already wanted a scooter. I'll get it for you if you win a bike race, he told me. It was a Wednesday, and the race was on Sunday. I participated and won. My father kept his word: and even though I was 12 and not 14 - you know, we Neapolitans are like that - he bought me the Piaggio 'Yes'".
Then world champion.
"In San Sebastian, Spain. A group of 35 riders, sprint, first. Always been a sprinter, but I can handle a small climb too".
The qualities of a sprinter?
"Knowing how to risk losing to win. These are no longer the sprints of before, with those trains that if you get in you can't get out. Now there's a scrum until the last kilometer. You need legs and cunning".
A rider in the south: a oddity?
"When I say I'm a cyclist by profession, they say: oh, you fix bicycles. I respond: no, I race them. And I explain: you know, those who do the Giro d'Italia. Around here there are professionals like D'Andrea and Muto, but I prefer to be with my group of friends, the classic ones, more than amateurs they are life companions, basically friends-friends. Like Rocco Travaglino, who has a phone shop. But often I go off alone".
And where?
"I'm in the northern outskirts of Naples. So I go to Avellino and Benevento. I really like cycling: not just to train, but also to observe. I'm a bike tourism lover, exploring, discovering, until I get lost".
Did you really get lost?
"Really. But then a rider always finds reference points. Starting from road signs".
And what is there to discover?
"Monte Taburno. Immense vineyards. And colors from a painter's palette. Imagine: great canyons and those colors. A marvel".
D'Amore, is life hard?
"But it's hard everywhere. Is it always 'happy hour' up in Milan? Life is hard regardless of Naples or Milan. It's hard because of the lack of work, because of too much garbage, because of many problems and heavy situations. But it depends on how you approach things: I look at the positive side of things".
Meaning?
"Look, in this world there will always be the poor-poor and the rich-rich. And then there are all those in between. And those in between are never satisfied: if they walk, they want a Mini, if they have a Mini, they want a Ferrari, and so it never ends".
What do you desire?
"Me? Nothing. And I'm happy".
And cycling?
"I'll work for the team, if an opportunity comes I'll try to exploit it, I'll pull for Ferrari and Vicioso - how are they? Are they nice? But all riders are nice - I can also be a mentor. I left cycling with hate, I'm returning with love".
I closed the piece like this: "Truly a D'Amore story".