CARLOTTA CIPRESSI. "ONE YEAR AGO THE GREAT FEAR OF SAYING GOODBYE TO CYCLING, TODAY I CAN'T WAIT TO DEBUT IN THE WORLD TOUR"

INTERVIEW | 15/01/2025 | 09:10
di Giorgia Monguzzi
Carlotta Cipressi is eager to start again, to challenge herself, can't wait to dive headfirst into her first season in the World Tour. Just a few words are enough to understand that the 21-year-old from Forlì is enthusiastic about starting to race, which is why she decided to fly to Spain with some teammates a week before the team's arrival, to be ready. After her experience with the UAE team, she will race for two years with Human Powered Health, a US team with a strong Italian component; alongside her are Giada Borghesi, Barbara Malcotti, Katia Ragusa, and Silvia Zanardi, not to mention the staff with Giorgia Bronzini.
Her first meeting with the team was in grand style, her first time with the new team, with her teammates and especially her first time in America, in Boston at the main sponsor's headquarters where all athletes underwent numerous specific tests.
For Carlotta, it was like a big dream, a completely new environment where she immediately felt at ease. "You know the American dream everyone talks about? Well, that was exactly it. Five crazy days where I understood that behind the team there's a great structure, and most importantly, I felt good. They're cutting-edge in everything, it's incredible. When we returned home, we had all kinds of analyses," Carlotta tells us without beating around the bush.
She's just arrived, yet she has already built something solid and valuable, particularly with her new trainer Enrico Campolunghi, with whom she has extensively discussed to find the best possible path, wanting to grow and be prepared. "With Enrico, I immediately formed a great relationship. He listened to me, understood what I needed, and tried to create the best path for me, building on what I had done before. We have constant dialogue, we practically talk every day to understand how I'm feeling. My goal is to improve in stage races, and we're working deeply in this direction without neglecting anything. I would like to improve in time trials. It's a discipline I particularly love and has become crucial in stage races. The team immediately supported me and has already let me try the new time trial bike - it's awesome."
It's striking to hear Carlotta talk about her dreams and ambitions, especially considering that exactly one year ago, she was fighting with the serious possibility of having to abandon cycling forever. Myocarditis had forced her to stop for over three and a half months, with doubts, fears, and especially the impossibility of pedaling that could have destroyed everything forever. Yet, with incredible determination, she decided she absolutely had to reach her goal. "Exactly a year ago, I didn't know if I could return to cycling. It was terrible because I literally couldn't do anything. As soon as the problems were resolved and I was given the green light to start again, I went straight towards the goal I had for 2023, which was to make the jump to a World Tour team, I didn't care which team, whether UAE ADQ or another, I wanted to make it. I returned to cycling on January 27th, I did a ride not even an hour long accompanied by my boyfriend. It was a strange sensation; I was even struggling to make turns. The first weeks were extremely tough. I couldn't pedal more than an hour and a half, and as soon as I returned, I would spend the afternoon in bed trying to recover from the fatigue. My body wasn't prepared. I knew very well that I could stop at any moment, but I understood that the only thing to do was to keep my head in check, set a goal, and go straight without giving up. I started doing double the training, took care of every detail, and then finally on April 27th, I returned to racing. It was amazing." Carlotta explains this with the strength and confidence of someone who made it. The data shows about twenty days of racing, practically nothing compared to the extremely long seasons we're used to, yet she still managed to get noticed, give her all, and secure a spot in the World Tour. The decisive moment was certainly the Thuringem, the German stage race she rode with the UAE ADQ formation, the six most difficult days of her cycling career, as she tells us, but which allowed her to set aside her fears and accumulate an incredible wealth of experience. Despite being very young, the 21-year-old from Forlì can boast an incredible experience, many important races under her belt that she has had to deal with since her experience with Valcar, when, just eighteen, she found herself catapulted into a crazy world.
"Certainly the transition to the elite level was the most difficult moment of my career. I was in my last year of high school and suddenly found myself at the start of Liège and the Flèche Wallonne. It was a blow I wasn't prepared for. I was on the Huy wall and almost didn't realize what I was doing. I felt the fatigue for three days, but shortly after I would have to race Liège. However, this experience served me a lot. I grew as a person and as an athlete, but above all, I started working on myself and approaching races in the right way." Carlotta has treasured everything, collected, and put it all in her precious baggage, ready to pull it out when needed. During the difficult year at Valcar, she learned a lot, like how to move in a group and manage a race. Then in the two seasons with UAE, she grew even more and is now ready for the big leap.
At Human Powered Health, she will learn a lot by taking example from two experienced athletes like Thalita de Jong and Ruth Edwards, who have already taken her under their wing. The athlete from Forlì will start with the Spanish Mallorca trilogy and then try to build her season prioritizing stage races without neglecting classics. With Carlotta, the conversation becomes an endless stream that we wouldn't want to stop, talking about goals, hopes, and dreams. For 2025, she wants to try to be at the start of a major stage race. She has no preferences, although her biggest dream of all is to one day be competitive in the Tour de France and maybe wear the polka dot jersey that has always fascinated her since childhood.
For her, cycling has always been something necessary and natural, a passion that emerged from watching on television the second Giro won by Ivan Basso and cheering for her great idol Tom Boonen.
"I know Tom Boonen has nothing to do with stage races, but I've always adored him and would like to race Paris-Roubaix precisely because he won four of them and it would be nice to meet him," Carlotta explains before saying goodbye. But there's one last dream she keeps for the end, perhaps because it's simultaneously the most magical of all and the most within reach. "This year at the World Championships, there will be the Under 23 category. The course is very suitable for my characteristics, and I strongly hope to wear the azzurra jersey again. It's my last opportunity and, above all, a great goal."