MATTIA PREDOMO: "I IMPROVE YEAR AFTER YEAR, BUT I'M NOT SATISFIED"

INTERVIEW | 22/12/2024 | 08:31
di Carlo Malvestio
Some dedicate December to training camps in Spain, while others quietly have already started racing again. Mattia Predomo began his 2025 last week, with a weekend of sprints and watts at the Track Cycling Challenge at the Tissot Velodrome in Grenchen. The athlete from Bolzano, who represents the Army Sports Center and Campana Imballaggi Geo&Tex Trentino ("to whom I always owe my enormous gratitude"), lives in Montichiari during the week, close to the velodrome, and returns home to Bronzolo on weekends, where he will also spend his Christmas holidays. 2024 was his second year among the professionals: he paid his dues, fought hard, learned, and still managed to bring home two titles, the U23 European Championship in Keirin and Team Sprint.

Mattia, do you consider the race in Switzerland the last race of 2024 or the first of 2025?
"It's somewhere in the middle. On the calendar it's still part of the previous season, but in fact, it's the first outing of the new season. After the World Championships, I was on vacation in Egypt and have been preparing for about a month. The Swiss race is now a fairly classic appointment, it's always a good starting point to understand where you're at."

And where are you?
"There's work to be done, but we knew that. In the last month, training has always been in the gym or we've done strength loads on the track, so it's clear that the conditions aren't optimal for racing. We're still following the schedule, the first important appointments will be in February."

Did you enjoy watching the UCI Track Champions League?
"I dream of being invited someday. In my opinion, it's absolutely amazing because the world's best compete across Europe in a truly fascinating context. I went to see Miriam Vece in Paris a few weeks ago and really enjoyed it. There's a magical atmosphere that an athlete can also enjoy, unlike what happens maybe in a World Championship. I believe it's a competition that really does good for our movement."

What kind of year was it for you?
"Ups and downs. I managed to get my satisfactions, but in my heart, I hoped to do a bit more. The U23 European titles in Keirin and Team Sprint were certainly the highest point of the season, but we can also be satisfied with the 4th place in Team Sprint in the World Cup event in Milton, Canada, since we gave Italy a Top 4 that hadn't been seen for a while. I'm also proud of the World Championship in Denmark, where among the Sprint superstars I reached the round of 16, being eliminated by Japanese Kaiya Ota, who then won bronze. I expected more from the Elite European Championships, where things didn't go as I hoped. It was a very long season, starting in January and ending in October, and it wasn't trivial to maintain such a high level of fitness for so many months."

You're 20 years old, let's not forget. How much have you grown compared to 2023?
"A lot. Especially in terms of awareness and approach to races, both technically and mentally. I'm understanding what I like and what I struggle with more. The mental coach has helped me a lot; I think for a high-level athlete it can really make a difference."

Compared to modern road cycling, yours is a discipline that needs to be structured over time. How much patience does it take?
"More than patience, I'd say consistency. You have to look at your own garden. One year you do 10.0", the next year 9.9", the next 9.8"... maybe the final race position doesn't change, but you're still putting down building blocks. Between being a decent rider and a champion, there are years and years of work. But if in two years you've lowered your lap time by half a second, well, you have something to be proud of. Looking at race placement, in my opinion, isn't useful, because the risk of being disappointed at these levels is very high. You can be eliminated in qualifications or the first round, but you must continue to look at what you're doing. In Keirin, for example, cunning and experience count a lot, and even a less powerful track cyclist with the right tactics can hope for a great result, while conversely, a stronger one can be outmaneuvered."

Do you currently prefer Sprint to Keirin?
"Yes, simply because in Keirin I'm still a bit clumsy. I'm testing myself, also in Switzerland last week, trying to understand what to do and what not to do. I make some mistakes, but it's better to make them now rather than in important events when my leg will be at its peak. In Sprint, one of my weak points was the qualifying lap, but in recent outings we've seen some steps forward and we continue to work hard on this. Becoming incredibly strong at a young age in our discipline isn't impossible - Harrie Lavreysen was already the best at 22 - but the path is longer compared to what we see in road cycling."

Was it hard to digest the missed Olympic qualification?
"We knew it would be almost impossible, but we believed until the end, never giving up, and that should make us proud. We didn't succeed, but I think this will give us great motivation to race in Los Angeles. We've grown a lot, but in terms of ranking we remained where we were because when you approach the Olympics, everyone starts going extremely fast."

Looking towards 2028, a lot depends on the growth of the Italian group. What perspectives do you see?
"I think we're a good, young group. We know we need to continue investing energy in Team Sprint if we want a chance to go to the next Olympics (the ranking useful for qualification is Team Sprint, ed.), there's work to be done and patience to have. There are some new guys approaching the fast disciplines, we hope to be able to include them in our work group, aware that the junior-elite category jump is enormous, even more so than in road cycling."

What do you expect from your 2025?
"Certainly growth, both personal and as a team. The first major event is the European Championship in Zolder (February 12-16, ed.), where it wouldn't be bad to improve the Italian Team Sprint record. After that, there will be World Cup races, which I expect to be a bit more 'calm' in the next two years, given that they are not Olympic seasons."

As a good Bolzano native, will you treat yourself to a ski outing during these Christmas holidays?
"Impossible. I would very much like to, but it's been quite a while since I've done it, for reasons of time and risks. With age, skiing has become increasingly dangerous."