SILVIA PERSICO: "AFTER A 2024 LIKE A ROLLER COASTER, I'M READY TO START AGAIN ALONGSIDE A GREAT TEAM LEADER"

INTERVIEW | 11/12/2024 | 08:15
di Giorgia Monguzzi
These are hectic days at UAE Adq, and after the short off-season break, preparations for 2025 have already begun with the first training camp, initial programs, and first outings. Silvia Persico landed in Spain two days ago, just enough time to settle in before training started. "First day and already almost four hours of climbing, we don't joke around here," says the Bergamo native with her usual manner, laughing. On Tuesday morning, she had her first official outing with only Italian girls, a kind of exclusive elite as she jokingly adds; by her side were Erica Magnaldi and Eleonora Camilla Gasparrini, as well as the new arrivals Greta Marturano and Elisa Longo Borghini, an already solid group ready to make sparks fly. We took advantage of the team's press day to let Silvia Persico guide us through the 2025 objectives and the many lessons from a truly difficult season. "For me, 2024 has been incredibly long, as if it would never end. There were many positive things, but unfortunately also many negative ones" that almost blocked me - she tells us - I started late because of a knee problem, then family issues came up, more stops, COVID, I was exhausted. However, all this taught me a lot, every season is full of ups and downs, you must have the courage to ride them, but never give up, try to grasp the positive things and learn from them. Fortunately, I had the right people around me and a team that gave me good support and the necessary energy." Listening to Silvia, we can't help but remember her second place at Tre Valli and when, under the stage in the cold and rain of Varese, she had told us how all of this was a kind of rebirth. "Finally, I had rediscovered the desire to pedal," she repeats, and yet in her difficult 2024, she also realized her dream when in Paris she lined up at the Olympic trial shared with Elisa Longo Borghini, Elena Cecchini, and Elisa Balsamo, an experience she carries in her heart and that gave her the strength to continue. The good end of the season with second place at Tre Valli and silver at the European gravel championships gave Silvia the right boost in preparation for 2025. This winter, she also decided to set aside cyclocross races, a discipline that had brought her to win several national titles. "It was a tough choice, but I had to make it. The level of road cycling has risen tremendously, seasons start earlier and end later, they are increasingly longer. I raced my last race on October 12th, and by November, cross was already starting, which meant either skipping January or going straight through to April or May without a moment's rest. I'm very sorry because it's part of my life, but unfortunately, it's difficult to do both. I miss it, but on the other hand, I came out more rested, for now that's how it is, who knows in the future..." Yet cyclocross hasn't completely disappeared from her life; without competitions, the desire remains, about once a week, to take the bike and go on an adventure doing what she has always loved. For the UAE Adq athlete, some small things have changed in preparation, no more off-road, but also a different approach to races. In 2023, we had gotten used to an athlete aiming for stage races and who went to the Giro to attempt a climb to the overall, but now Silvia has decided to focus on something else, to review her position as an athlete and her objectives. Certainly, 2025 will be a beautiful revolution for UAE Adq Team, which has welcomed Elisa Longo Borghini among its ranks, a strong figure, a team woman ready to guide the brigade and all her teammates towards great achievements. This is a decisive change of direction for a team that in the last two years has not had a defined leader; in 2022, they had reached a splendid third place at the Giro with Mavi Garcia, but now there is a desire to aim even higher. Silvia knows Elisa very well, she has shared national team colors with her, and like almost everyone on the team, she has welcomed her arrival with pleasure. "Recently, Elisa and I have spent a lot of time together, we did the entire Olympic approach at San Pellegrino pass and shared a room during the boot camp in the Emirates. She's an incredibly strong athlete that I know well, a champion who will certainly bring order to the team. This year we had complicated moments, we worked a lot but no one ever managed to finalize, her arrival will do a lot of good for everyone, it will spur us to do even better and I totally put myself at her disposal with the hope of sharing victories and beautiful emotions." Silvia reveals to us how Elisa's presence can provide security, unity, and certainly an extra boost to a team that is constantly compared to the men's team. In Silvia's words, there is a great desire to do well, to redeem herself from her last season, but above all to find her dimension. "In 2023, I tried to make the rankings in multi-day races, but it's not for me, it's not me. I believe that in some way Elisa's arrival clarifies my position better, I will work for her, but I will also have my spaces without the need to necessarily achieve results in grand tours and risk losing myself. I have the feeling that this way, we will all have less weight on our shoulders, less need to achieve results at all costs, but work for a common goal," continues the Bergamo native, who also clarifies her objectives for 2025. The main one is to continue working, improve especially in climbing to best support Elisa and also take some personal satisfaction. On January 13th, she will return to Spain with the team and then start the season in Mallorca, then UAE Tour, the classics, and most likely we will see her at the start of the first edition of Milan-Sanremo. The programs are not yet defined, it's still too early, but Silvia tells us her great desire without secrets. "It's rumored that the Giro d'Italia will start from my Bergamo, and I absolutely cannot miss it." We can only agree with her.