ALBERTO BETTIOL, THE MAN OF TWO WORLDS

TUTTOBICI | 29/01/2025 | 09:15
di Pier Augusto Stagi
He represents Italy and its spirit in the world, he who has always raced for foreign teams, first American and now Kazakh-Chinese. Alberto Bettiol is a citizen of the world, a standard-bearer and pioneer, because he symbolizes a team that is changing its skin, bringing an Asian, specifically Chinese, bicycle brand into top-tier cycling. X-Lab is the name of the bicycles that Astana will adopt, which will be accompanied on the jerseys by the XdS Bikes brand, the largest Chinese bicycle manufacturer, one of the largest in the world.
"When I visited their production unit in Xidesheg, I was stunned - Alberto Bettiol tells us just after the Christmas holidays -. I found myself in a city, not a factory. I didn't feel like I had ended up in a production facility, but in a new world, made only of bicycles. A long and endless road, ending inside an immense structure: XdS Bikes. Kilometers and kilometers of company, producing bicycles and components of every type. This year they will celebrate 30 years of activity and have gifted themselves a world stage. They have always produced for third parties, in the group there are at least six bicycle brands made here, and they are all top brands, of the highest level, among the most popular and sought after absolutely."
Alberto Bettiol represents Italy, because he wears the tricolor in the world and is our seasonal cover, in an important year for tuttoBICI, which will blow out 30 candles in May. He lends himself to a good-luck chat, on the eve of his twelfth season, which even before starting is already to be remembered and transferred to history books.
Alberto, do you feel aware of being a witness to a historic transition? This year, the Chinese industry officially enters the world of top-tier cycling.
"I am absolutely aware and honored. When I accepted Astana's offer, I knew I was signing a contract that would take me beyond what I had seen and experienced until today. I'm no longer a young boy, this year will be my twelfth season as a professional, I've always raced for American teams (from Cannondale to Bmc, to EF, ed.), now I'll wear the tricolor, a true and clearly visible tricolor, for a Kazakh-Chinese formation, and I'm proud of this because I know this team, this group is changing its skin. It's an ambitious formation. There's a great desire to return to past glory, and I hope to contribute."
There will also be something new in terms of preparation.
"True. After over ten years, Leonardo (Piepoli, ed.) will no longer follow me, but by my side I'll have someone with great experience and enthusiasm, Maurizio Mazzoleni, who is the trainer and coordinator of the entire team. With him will also be Gabriele Balducci, who has followed me since I was a young boy at Mastromarco: I think no one knows me better than him. Gabriele will be part of the staff and will compare notes with Maurizio to bring me to the best conditions for the appointments that await me."
You started with Australia.
"The Tour Down Under is too nice to me and I couldn't not include it in my program. So I'll basically retrace my usual program, the one that suits me best. It will be a classic start, also because in February I prefer racing rather than high-altitude retreats or exhausting training. I know the displacement of my engine and how to manage it."
And in Italy, which races will you participate in?
"Appointment in March, first with Tirreno-Adriatico and then with Milan-San Remo."
The Classic would already be a beautiful goal... "
More than beautiful, a dream. But it's an incredibly difficult race to ride, because it's crazy, indecipherable, and unpredictable..."
A bit like you.
"Maybe. Of course, I'm someone who goes a lot by feelings, I rely a lot on instinct, and in a race like San Remo a bit of creativity helps, but you need a lot of strength and... well, you understand."
A bit of endurance?
"A little bit."
Minimum objective?
"I hope that, after the Northern campaign, with my Flanders to honor, I can be part of the team's plans for the Giro d'Italia. If that were the case, I might give up racing Roubaix to prepare for the pink race, which I adore. It would be wonderful to win a stage wearing the tricolor jersey."
You talk about instinct and heart, creativity, but today there's also a lot of research and much instrumentation to use.
"I use these tools in the preparation phase, but when it's time to race, I strip everything off and go with my head. I don't want to be conditioned by a smartwatch telling me I slept badly. If I feel good, I do what comes naturally. Numbers are important, but they're not everything. If today's cycling is enjoyable, it's because there are riders - true champions - who let themselves go, without fear of making mistakes. Defeat is just a possibility, nothing irreparable."
You're a team man. "
I like being a talking and thinking rider. And I really like being with my teammates, forming a group and growing as a collective. In these years, I've met many who always stay alone, looking only at their computer or phone. Obviously today everything is more exasperated, the days are intense, packed with things to do, from the gym to rollers, from photos to interviews, from massages to the psychologist, from meetings with sponsors to yoga, from rigorous and calibrated nutrition to a good book you never manage to read. However, a moment to be together and exchange a couple of words and get to know each other better is fundamental. I think that if you have to help someone or be helped, everything works better if you know that person. If you like them, you give even more of your heart. They say: but you have to do it regardless, you're a professional. True, but I respond: for now, we're not yet at artificial intelligence, and the feelings, the empathy between people still have value."
From tuttoBICI January, cover story