Trentin: Flanders dreaming
Omega Pharma – Quick-Step | January 20, 2012
Matteo Trentin is dreaming to race the Tour of Flanders and to become Italy's first winner since Alessandro Ballan. With OmegaPharma-Quick Step, he found the perfect place to learn what it takes to be a classics rider.
"This is a foreign team, but it's perfect for me," Trentin explained prior to the Tour Down Under stage to Tanunda today. "I want to learn how to race the classics. I hope to have chance already this year to race in the Tour of Flanders."
Patrick Lefevere's team has won Flanders five times in the last ten years.
"I'd like to see how it is, learn and understand if it's a race for me. You need to be strong in this team to have chance, there are so many strong classics riders."
Tom Boonen will likely be the team's captain for the race on April 1. He won the race two times, adding to three wins in another cobbled classic, Paris-Roubaix.
"My dream is to race Flanders, but also to do well," he added. "This year, though, I need to work for the captains, learning for the future."
Trentin, 22 years old, races in the Tour Down Under this week. Yesterday, he sprinted to 11th behind winner André Greipel. After Australia, he will travel to the Iberian Peninsula to race the Challenge Mallorca and the Algarve stage race.
In Mallorca, he will meet with team coach, Tom Steels. The former Belgian professional helps Trentin and a handful of the other young riders.
"Every few days, I talk with Tom via Skype to update him," Trentin explained.
"I saw him race on TV when I was young. I watched the classics and Giro d'Italia on TV when I was a boy, even if in the 1990s there wasn't a lot of cycling on TV in Italy. We were always cheering on Gilberto Simoni, who is from Trentino as well."
Trentin's parents did not race, rather it was his brother who encouraged him to ride. A local club lent him a bike and he developed from there.
As an under 23 rider, he won six times and caught the eye of Lefevere. In August, he joined Quick Step and completed for a half-season as professional.
"I'm fast enough, but not a sprinter. The finish yesterday suited me, with four turns in the last kilometre. I'm good on varied courses, like today's stage or yesterday's. When there's a big group, I can't sprint for the win. My ideal finish would be when I'm in a small group, a gruppetto, with 30 to 40 riders."
He could have a chance in a few years time win Flanders in a similarly small group. For now, though, he is learning what it takes.