Domenico Pozzovivo on the attack in the finale.(Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)
Domenico Pozzovivo (Colnago - CSF Inox) soloed to victory on stage two.(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Domenico Pozzovivo (Colnago-CSF) has given his seal of approval to the route of the 2011 Giro d’Italia. The Italian climber was forced to abandon early on in this year’s corsa rosa after a crash in the opening week and he is looking to make up for that disappointment the next time around.
“The mountains at next year’s Giro inspire me,” Pozzovivo told Gazzetta dello Sport. “A lot of them are unknown to me. I’ll go and do reconnaissance of the Grossglockner, the Crostis and the Gardeccia. I’ll also study the Orvieto stage and I’ll climb Mount Etna again.”
Pozzovivo spent his holidays in Sicily last year and decided that the only way to tackle the slopes of the mighty volcano was by bike.
“I couldn’t resist the temptation,” he said. “I explored it from all sides, except for the western one. I climbed it as far as Rifugio Sapienza. The environment bewitched me.”
His Giro disappointment aside, Pozzovivo enjoyed a fine 2010 season and took some prestigious wins on the Italian calendar. He impressed by winning the Alpe di Pampeago stage of the Giro del Trentino and he was still going strong in midsummer, taking two stages and the general classification at the Brixia Tour.
Pozzovivo credits a training camp at altitude for the sparkling form that yielded Brixia Tour victory. As he does most seasons, the Italian spent much of July toiling on the slopes of the hallowed Passo di Stelvio.
“I was based at the Hotel Folgore,” he said. “I like the idea of forcing myself to climb the Stelvio at the end of a training ride. But you need to be careful: one day, I didn’t eat enough and I got the knock. But just to be clear, I’ve never had to call somebody to come and pick me up.”
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For now, Pozzovivo is enjoying two weeks free of training, before beginning his build up to the 2011 season, where he will be aiming to better his 2008 Giro d’Italia performance, when he finished 8th.
“From November 20, I’ll start training again by mountain biking, swimming and hunting for mushrooms and truffles,” he said. “Then from Christmas onwards, only the bike. Every year, it’s the nicest present that I give myself.”
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Barry Ryan is Head of Features at Cyclingnews. He has covered professional cycling since 2010, reporting from the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and events from Argentina to Japan. His writing has appeared in The Independent, Procycling and Cycling Plus. He is the author of The Ascent: Sean Kelly, Stephen Roche and the Rise of Irish Cycling’s Golden Generation, published by Gill Books.
