"We live in a tuna can," says Elisa, amused like few others. "Even though our apartment is very nice, not everything can fit, so we have to make choices. The microwave is currently on a table waiting for a better placement, and the Roubaix prize has remained with my parents, like many other things, but one day, when we'll have stopped racing and traveling the world, we'll find the ideal place to store everything."
After touring the world (from January 1st to October 12th, their lives intersected for 66 days), they decided to stay quietly at home, the best way to recover from an intense season and enjoy the peace of Ornavasso.
"Especially the mountains, where we like to run and walk, because we can't stand still," adds the Italian champion, winner for the seventh time (equaling Fabiana Luperini, ed.) of the all-BIKE Oscar.
"Calmly, as I told you, there's no rush, even if we have an idea. Where my parents live, there's something that suits us, a situation needs to be sorted out, but we'll think about it calmly at the right moment."
"I'm coming from a great season, rich in emotions and results, but next year I'll wear a new jersey (that of UAE Team ADQ, three-year contract, ed.) and I have several satisfactions yet to achieve."
"Strade Bianche: it's still there, it's a race I feel I can win and I'd like to fill this gap."
"Because I felt it was time to get back in the game, to have a new experience. I'm 33 now (she'll turn 33 on December 10th, ed.) and I can't wait anymore: I have to do certain things now, while I'm still in time. I'm going to an ambitious team, with my coach Paolo Slongo (he'll be the coach for the entire team, ed.) and I'm happy with my choice, although I can only thank Lidl Trek, and Luca Guercilena in particular, for the magnificent years we spent together."
You left her a Giro d'Italia.
"I left them the first Grand Tour of their young history. For an absolute top-level team, which had brushed against this milestone so many times, it's a great achievement and I'm proud to have been the one to conquer it".
By the way: a heart-stopping finale that rewarded your inexhaustible determination.
"When I hear people around me giving me up for lost, I get fired up. That's just how I am, and to think that from the day before I was convinced I would win. I was certain that after the double climb of Blockhaus, I would recover better than Lotte Kopecky, and so it was. For me, Lotte had gone strong the day before, but not extremely strong, and that effort would cost her".
What do you say Jacopo (Mosca, ed.), do you agree?
"Absolutely yes. But did you know that in 40 hours I drove 2,500 kilometers by car?"
Are you joking?
"I'm dead serious. I was in Andorra, where I've been living since 2021. I left at 3 in the morning on Saturday, arrived in Ornavasso and went out cycling for training. Sunday morning at 2 I left for Pescara. I arrived in time to witness the start: when I saw her get off the motorhome, I knew it was going to be a great day. At the end of the stage, from L'Aquila we left together for Ornavasso. The next day I was on the bike, she took a well-deserved day of rest".
Did she surprise you?
"Absolutely not, Eli in that Giro I saw and felt her always serene. Very confident. I knew she would go strong, very strong".
Let's get back to Elisa: first impact with the new team?
"From October 20 to 25, in Abu Dhabi, under the orders of performance chief Alejandro Gonzales Tablas and president Melissa Moncada, but the real getting to know each other will be in December, where we'll have our first real gathering: and there we'll also outline the programs".
But you must have a general idea already...
"One thing is certain: I'll race the UAE Tour, then the Italian races: Strade Bianche, Trofeo Oro in Euro, Binda, Sanremo and then Flanders. Not Roubaix, but I'll be at the start of Brabant Arrow, Arrow and Liège".
How did you celebrate your first wedding anniversary (they got married a year ago: on October 28, at the Madonna del Boden Sanctuary in Ornavasso, ed.)?
"At home, quietly. As always, we went for a nice walk. I've already said, we can't stay still".
Are you calmer or your brother Paolo?
"Me, he's even more restless. It's hard to see him with a book in hand, unless it's by Mario Rigoni Stern".
The victory that satisfied you the most?
"The Giro d'Italia. For years I've chased this coveted pink jersey and finally grabbed it".
How many more years would you like to race?
"I signed a three-year contract, but I'd like to at least reach the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics".
Have you already thought about what you'd like to do after?
"No, I'm too focused on what I still want to do as an athlete. My energy is there. Of course, I know what I'll never do: sports director. Maybe I could dedicate myself to preparation, that's something that really intrigues me".
Well, you already have Paolo Slongo who could be a great mentor.
"I could start with him...".
The most difficult moment of the season?
"Giving up the Tour de France due to a training fall that was as banal as it was disheartening. I felt like a 'minus habens'. Think that I was going to meet Jacopo for a final walk and on a descent section the wheel slipped away. I was perhaps too relaxed and scraped myself all over. For three days I had a fever. I felt like an idiot. Maybe thanks to not having raced the Grande Boucle, which I would have raced in support of my teammates hunting for stages, I arrived in great condition for the World Championships".
There, a bronze of the highest level.
"Yes, I really liked myself: that medal was not a given".
At the Olympics, however, you arrived too depleted.
"The Giro was not a walk in the park".
For a year now you've also had a manager.
"Yes, Emma Wade: an English girl, very good".
Kids?
"I told you, I'm very focused on the competitive aspect. Then the Bimbi I have, Jacopo gave it to me and he uses it, because in the kitchen he's really very good. With the Bimbi he's a real wizard".
Jacopo, you have a future too...
"I manage, I really like being around the stove: it gives me great satisfaction".
And then that's a Bimbi that doesn't cry at night...
"Let's not touch on this topic, sometimes we wake up with a start in the middle of the night - Elisa explains -: 'Error 6, open the robot map for assistance'. It's Arturo, our roomba, which starts suddenly and gets stuck under the bed: he's a real idiot. Gregorio, which we have in Andorra, is much better, also because he has newer technology".
It's a problem...
"No, the real problem is finding a spot for the microwave".
If you win Strade Bianche it's a disaster: where do you put the trophy?
"There's always mom's house".
And the tuttoBICI Oscars?
"At mom's house, all of them, then in a few years we'll arrange them all properly. Now we're in a can of tuna...".
Jacopo laughs his head off like a child: "...he laughs, but Jacopo often plays the silent game...", says the Queen of the house.
from tuttoBICI december issue - photo by Pier Maulini
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Ritratti
Oscar
Albi d'Oro
