Il Canto degli Italiani

My favourite World Cup was Italia ’90.

From the moment the first ball was kicked in the opening match between Cameroon and Argentina it was excitement all the way. What made it all the more special was England’s heroic adventures which took them to the semi-final, only to lose out courtesy of a couple of infamous penalty misses by England.

Of course, as we all know, this is where Paul Gascoigne, a little-known 20-something from the North East, was catapulted into the football stratosphere. His tears against Germany, when he was booked following an over-zealous foul on Thomas Berthold, and was thus unable to play in the final (had England qualified), will forever be etched on my mind.

Gascoigne was subsequently signed by Italian club Lazio, but following an injury, never really fulfilled his football potential. In recent times, Gascoigne has been a fallen hero. Alcohol abuse has taken its toll such that now he looks like an aged man, poor and penniless.

A fallen hero in the cycling world was Marco Pantani, one-time winner of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia.

Pantani was Italy’s Paul Gascoigne. A hero to the masses, he too only partly fulfilled his massive cycling potential before dying on Valentine’s Day 2004, aged just 34, from a drug overdose following a period of paranoid self-destruction.

Pantani lived in a town in North East Italy called Cesenatico, and this is where I have spent the last week at the Steve Trew Warm Weather Training Camp. I won’t bore you with a blow by blow account of the week's training, but suffice to say the weather was lovely, the company was great (I made some great friends and fantastic athletes who I will definitely be keeping in touch with) but, above all, the coaching was absolutely superb.

Steve (ex Olympic and Commonwealth Games triathlon coach) and Dan Bullock (ex-220 Coach of the Year and swim coach specialist – runs http://www.swimfortri.com/) provided some first class coaching throughout the week. In particular, Dan’s swim sessions were the best I have ever attended. No heavy distance stuff in the pool, and perhaps only one interval sesion - instead there was a very heavy emphasis on technique.

Not only is Dan obviously a highly accomplished swimmer in his own right, but he is also a great communicator and I picked up a wealth of swim drills which I can take away with me to work on.

The highlight of the week, however, was without doubt an ‘easy’ day out on the bikes, which involved a 40km ride out to an inland village, lunch in a most fabulous restaurant (with the most fabulous wine cellar), then back to the hotel. But what made this day so much more than an ordinary training day was what we were treated to along the way.

First, our peleton (some 30 cyclists) seemed to get caught up amongst a host of classic and rare sports cars along streets lined with spectators. This, we later found out, was the famous Mille Miglia, ultimately won by this Bugatti Type 37.



Next, we found ourselves riding behind a car with some unusual camera equipment perched upon its roof, reminiscent of a giant Webcam. This, we later found out, was taking street level 360 degree pictures for Google. So, watch out for later editions of Google Earth and Google Maps and you might find me waving frantically!

Finally, our route took us past, firstly, the home of Marco Pantani – a flash villa on the outskirts of Cesenatico, and, secondly, to the tomb of the Pantani family, where the great man himself was laid to rest. Having just rode the very same hills which Pantani spent many hours riding, there was an eerie feeling entering the tomb, with his medals and other memorabilia lying there.

A fantastic day, and indeed a fantastic week. Photos to follow.

For the record, here's what I did:-

Tuesday - nothing (travelling)
Wednesday - lots
Thursday - lots
Friday - lots
Saturday - lots
Sunday - lots
Monday - lots
Tuesday -nothing (travelling)

You get the idea!

Total training time - 30+ hours.

Particular mention to my training mates in Italy - Martin (hoping to qualify for the 70.3 World Championships - good luck in Austria on Sunday, mate), Jelle (very strong cyclist from Holland and thoroughly decent guy), David and Andrew (with whom we created the 'team' of the week), Trevor (always with a story to tell), Chloe (always smiling!). There were loads others who I shall definitely be keeping in touch with via something called Facebook.

This coming week I am taking it a bit easier, hopefully fitting in a massage and doing some shorter intensive stuff - concentrating on swimming so I don't forget anything I learned in Italy.

I also have a practice run at the Big Cow Sprint on Sunday which is on the same course as my next Qualifyer two weeks later. Hopefully the weather will hold out, although I am not anticipating the 30+ degree temperatures which I enjoyed last week. Neither do I expect to be joined by any eccentric Italian motorists enjoying their Ferrari's, Bugatti's and Maserati's - more's the pity!

See you next week.

C