Yesterday in Sondrio was the great protagonist of the day, Arianna Fontana welcomed the female and male athletes in Valtellina for the first and historic start of the Tour de Suisse from Italy. By now she hardly needs any introduction, with 14 Olympic medals she is the most decorated Italian athlete in history. This time, however, we see her in an unprecedented role without skates, but as a cycling enthusiast.

«It was wonderful to see Valtellina as the protagonist of the Tour de Suisse stage, I followed the race on TV and it was quite something to see the aerial shots of our valley. Perhaps I'm biased, but it's incredible, it's an important stage for our territory and I'm happy that the public responded this way» said Arianna Fontana, who was welcomed with genuine enthusiasm. Many people wanted to stop her for a photo, but especially for compliments while always asking the same question “when will we see you racing?”. Arianna gave a complete answer during a meeting organized by the Valtellina consortium and conducted by our Pietro Illarietti. «Many people want to see me on the ice, they always ask me if I'll return to racing and when, but it's difficult to make predictions. I won't hide that the desire to continue is there, but I need to understand if there are the possibilities. The dream is certainly the Olympics, but the commitment is 4 years and it's absolutely not a small thing. I believe that what's important is having the right mindset and determination, then the body follows. I don't yet know what I'll do, but I don't want to close any doors because you never know, I hope that soon there will be new girls ready to break new records that aren't mine but belong to everyone.»

Although her sport is on ice, cycling for Arianna Fontana represents not only a passion but a fundamental part of her training. At the margins of the press conference we tried to better understand her relationship with cycling and how she follows it. «For my training, cycling on a bike is fundamental even though I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with it. There are beautiful days when you feel good and don't struggle, and others when it's really difficult. It happens that I ask myself why I'm doing it, but then hunger and the desire to do well always take over. I like to pedal but also to follow cycling, both the major races and the smaller ones. A few weeks ago in Berbenno a race passed right under my house and we went out on the balcony to applaud all the athletes» said Arianna Fontana, who during the year cycles thousands of kilometers but also makes time to follow it as a simple fan. Just before the Tour de Suisse, she visited the hotel where Tadej Pogacar was staying to meet him in person and, although she admits she didn't want to steal too much of his time, it was a truly special emotion. «It was nice to meet Tadej in person and even though we practice different sports I saw great dedication and care in everything he does. Even though it was just the eve of the race, he was super focused and you could already see there was a healthy dose of adrenaline»

When asked what type of cyclist she would be, Arianna leaves no room for doubt and answers that she would certainly not be a climber, she likes going uphill, but only tackling those she knows and where she can identify the points where it hurts the most. She's never tried it but she's fascinated by track cycling, as a type of work the discipline most similar to her short track and perhaps clearly her ideal terrain. Speed skating and cycling are closer than one might imagine and it's not so unusual for skaters to switch to two wheels «I believe that often the transition from speed skating to cycling is very natural and especially happens with athletes specialized in long distances and who are used to prolonged efforts. Demi Vollering is perhaps the most striking example, she started with the dream of skating and now she's a cycling champion. One of the first athletes to do it was the Bulgarian Evgenija Radanova, she participated as a track cyclist at the Athens Olympics and was an example for many who decided to follow her» concludes Arianna, who from this day of full immersion with cycling.