La downhill it is certainly the most spectacular off-road discipline. Thanks also to the support received in recent years from Red Bull, there has been a growth in the level of the riders, combined with an increase in the interest of spectators. But what is the situation in Italy?
The present is pink, but the future?
If we look at the international results, having two girls consistently in the top positions allows us to affirm that the pink descent is in good health. Eleonora Farina e Veronika Widman they are constantly in the top ten, a sign of professional work and constant improvement.
But the health of a movement is observed above all by looking at what happens behind them, from this perspective then the future seems a little less rosy. The two athletes are respectively 32 and 29 years old, but behind them currently there are no girls capable of following the same path. The absence of junior girls at the world championship is the first aspect to start from, because it is also through the presence at these events that the growth of a sector is evaluated. Secondly, the small numbers also at the Italian championship, as well as in the various stages of the Italian Cup, tell us that the pool to draw from is very small. The Dh is a discipline that sees few women at the start in a general way, perhaps also for the reasons we have talked about HERE; but the fact remains that at the moment there are no new riders who can aspire to compete at a high level.
How are the men?
The speech becomes more complex when we look at the male category. To date we have some riders able to do some good runs; with Revelli capable of high ranking results, such as 6th place in this year's Cup. But none of them manage to have a constant pace that leads them to always be among the big names. It is a constant that we have had over the years, valid riders who have never managed to make the real leap in quality. But what can be the causes?
The importance of the team.
The DH is more and more competitive, the gap between the various athletes is now almost always counted in cents; so every little detail is of fundamental importance. Training, nutrition, technical materials, staff, are elements that can affect the results and lower your performance, perhaps only by a couple of seconds, which are the ones that allow you to go from extra to prominent athlete.
In this sense it is important to have a structured team, but to do so you need significant investments, which are often not within the reach of a private individual; which is why being able to join a prominent team is very important. Because when you have the qualities, as in the case of our guys, a single result can come, but to have continuity you need to be able to work with the utmost professionalism. Unfortunately, the Italians struggle to enter the international circuit; it would be reductive to dismiss the issue with the usual excuse of little desire to do etc ... because in recent years this mantra has often been debunked. But then why can't we have riders in pro teams? It's a question that I don't know how to answer; I think there may be various causes, but I don't know what the motivation could be. It is clear that coming from a country like France or from Anglo-Saxon ones often helps, but there are valid riders from other realities, why Italians? It is a situation that penalizes us, because in this way the efforts of talented young people very often fail to collect the results they deserve because they are excluded from the lap that counts.
How are the young people?
Unlike the women's sector, here we have Capello, who has already shown that he has an excellent pace; behind him Mascherini and Hauser are doing interesting things. The hope is that they will grow further and that they will be able to marry into a team that puts them in a position to express their qualities in the best possible way. Compared to other nations that manage to churn out young talents, ours is a small pool, but three guys with good hopes are already a good package to start with.
