Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling’s riders have been settling in on day one of the team’s five-day Italian training camp, at the mediaeval CastelBrando hotel, above the village of Cison di Valmareno, halfway between the towns of Valdobbiadene and Vittorio Veneto, in the shadow of the mighty Dolomite Mountains.
The castle even has its own little funicular railway to transport visitors up from the village below, but there was to be none of this for Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling’s riders, who had to climb the super-steep winding road up; and they thought that Flanders recon was last week!
Yesterday’s GP Cornaredo, across the other side of the country, meant that most of the team didn’t arrive here until late last night. It also meant that there were some tired and sore legs on this morning’s training ride, especially when those that hadn’t raced hit the front!
After a buffet lunch in the hotel’s restaurant, the riders’ media commitments continued, with video interviews to record. Those not scheduled for this afternoon took the opportunity to drive one of the Honda Civic Tourer team cars down the hill to explore the local area and seek out cups of coffee.
This is certainly no easy day for the team staff though, with a full programme of massages for soigneur Pascal and – even though this morning’s ride was dry – mechanic Jarrod has 16 Colnago bikes to clean and lube in time for tomorrow.
Photographer Bart has something like two thousand pictures to sort through and select the best for today’s gallery, while for team manager Rochelle and directeur sportif Franky there are always a million things to do…
