Passo San Pellegrino is heaven for International Cycling
Monday, 20 September 2010
Thanks to Vincenzo Nibali's triumph in the Vuelta a España 2010, Passo San Pellegrino has come to be considered a golden mecca as yet another rider who trains here has won one of the three most important and ambitious major stage races in the world.
The man from Messina came in third at the Giro d'Italia, where he wore the pink jersey for three days. In Spain he won by building himself his victory day by day, always staying in the main peloton, no matter how hard the stage. In fact, it was his remarkable resistance in the mountain stages that carried the champion from Team Liquigas Doimo to the highest step on the podium in Madrid. Nibali exhibited great physical fitness throughout the entire season. A top form that was attained in part to his high altitude training sessions over the last year at Passo San Pellegrino, the ample mountain passage saddling the provinces of Trento and Belluno in the gorgeous Val di Fassa, where last December Nibali and his team mates were welcomed on three different occasions.
This is a source of great pride for this Dolomite locale, considering that this victory comes just a few months after a spectacular win in the Giro d'Italia by Ivan Basso, another great champion riding for Team Liquigas Doimo. In 2010, all the riders from Team Liquigas Doimo who participated in the Giro d'Italia, Tour de France and the Vuelta a España spent considerable time training in Passo San Pellegrino.
Nibali, born in 1984 and nicknamed "the shark from the strait", captured glory in the Vuelta 20 years after the last Italian success by Marco Giovannetti in 1990. Before that you'd have to go all the way back to Conterno in 1956, Gimondi in 1968 and Battaglin in 1981. And the season still hasn't ended for Nibali. CT Paolo Bettini will certainly be giving him a major role in the Italian National team's bid for the World Championships in Melbourne.
“Passo San Pellegrino is the ideal location for our training - explains Nibali -. Not only can we train on one of the most demanding climbs in the Dolomites, but we get to spend time in a serene, peaceful and familiar atmosphere. We always receive an extraordinary welcome on the pass, and although the training is grueling, there are so many beautiful sights to behold that your mind is absorbed as you pedal surrounded by the spectacular Dolomites".
This important partnership between Passo San Pellegrino and Team Liquigas Doimo will be renewed next December when the green-blue juggernaut returns to the pass for an important retreat on the snow where they'll lay out their objectives for their next season.
"Last year - remembers Nibali - we did an orientation exercise on the snow with snowshoes that turned out to be an extraordinary experience. It was a very useful way to train and amalgamate the team, but I also had a blast".
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