After his victory at the European Championships, we caught up with Loris Revelli for a long chat. We started with the race, but as often happens, the stopwatch became just the starting point for a discussion about much more: how the Elites ride, how much the tracks have changed, training, telemetry, young riders, and the situation of the Downhill Italian. Because a photo, a video, or a podium are just the tip of the iceberg of years of work and dedication.
The European champion's jersey came after years spent at the highest levels of the Downhill And after a continental podium already achieved in Sestola 10 years ago, where Loris finished third. This time, however, he climbed to the top step.
The jersey is beautiful. It's a great satisfaction, especially considering my entire career. I had already finished third at the European Championships in Sestola, but winning it is something else entirely.
"On foot the trail looked like a mess."
Loris's European Championship begins a few days before the race, with the track walk. The initial impression is of a highly technical course, difficult to read, but it changes completely once you get on your bike.
We arrived on Wednesday and hiked the trail on Thursday. From the look of it, it looked like a mess. It was really tough, very technical, a bit like Val di Sole a few years ago: slow, with lots of roots and rocks. "Then I got on the bike, and it seemed pretty smooth. I felt good. Pesenti and Casadei were on the track and told me I was riding fast. When people from outside tell you something like that, it gives you motivation. I was pumped."
The sensations are therefore good, but as the hours pass the track begins to transform.
By Saturday, it had already become a mess. Amateurs were also riding, and the course had become damaged in places other than those where it usually gets damaged when the Elites ride.
During qualifying, Loris crashed and decided not to finish his run. It wasn't just a consequence of the crash: he also had a decision to make in view of the final.
"At that point, I preferred not to finish qualifying. The next day, I would have started from the front, and honestly, I preferred that to being in the middle of the starting grid and in the thick of it."
On Sunday the situation gets even worse.
"The track had become really difficult. During practice, it was almost a pain because I couldn't get a good feeling. I struggled to lap the way I wanted." "Then, after I reached the finish line, the more I talked to the others, the more I saw that they were all in the same situation. And then I felt reassured: I realized that I wasn't the only one feeling those feelings."
Elites and amateurs don't ruin a track in the same way.
One of the most interesting topics of the conversation arises from what happened during the European Championships. It's not simply a matter of saying that an elite skier is faster than an amateur: the very way they interpret the terrain changes, and consequently, the points at which the track is dug out change.
"When the Elites are racing, brake bumps often don't form inside the corners because we brake first. We get to the corner and maybe we don't even touch the brakes anymore. The corner might collapse, a rut might form, but those bumps caused by braking don't emerge."
The same principle applies when faced with roots, rocks, and other obstacles.
"Maybe we come to a root without braking, we swerve it, and go away. But if you brake through, and many people do, a pothole forms before the root. At that point, everything changes for us, because you can no longer negotiate the passage in a linear fashion like you did before."
"It's not that one thing is right and the other is wrong. It's just a different way of driving. The speeds change, the braking points change, and therefore the way you ruin the track also changes."
A phenomenon that Loris had already observed on one of the most famous tracks of the Downhill world: Fort William.
"At Fort William, corners were ruined that had never caused problems in the World Cup."
Fort William is a track the elites know almost every inch of. For this reason, it's interesting to observe what happens when riders with very different skills ride the same terrain.
«This year, both elite and amateur riders competed at Fort William, and the track was damaged in a completely different way to what we were used to seeing during the World Cup years.»
"I especially remember some of the first corners. In the World Cup years, there had never been any particular problems there. This time, however, they had been ruined in a strange way, precisely because they were interpreted differently."
Hence that phrase that is often used jokingly in the racing world: those of the Coppa Italia play another sport. Loris, however, gives it a very concrete meaning.
"It really is. In the World Cup, the track gets a lot of potholes, but they happen in fairly specific places: at the entrance, in certain specific spots, where everyone is doing more or less certain things. When even the amateurs are on the track, who perhaps drag the brakes more or brake in different places, completely different potholes emerge."
"Toriano at the European Championships. I sprinted incredibly fast. Then I ran in the dark."
After a challenging weekend, the final arrives. Starting first, Loris has a clear track ahead of him. His feelings return to being good, and he decides to start strong right away. Very strong.
"I started first in the race and felt good. There was that uphill sprint at the start, and I did really well."
Maybe too much.
"I paid for it. From there, I practically ran in the dark, because I was completely short of oxygen. And with the altitude, it was even more noticeable."
In the last thirty seconds there is little room for thought.
"By the end, I was really done. For the last thirty seconds, I practically went for broke: I let the bike carry me."
«But it seems like it was enough.»
And that was really enough.
European champion.
«Ten years ago, with seven seconds you could be close to the top 10. Today…»
From the race we move on to the evolution of the DownhillOver the last ten years, the tracks have changed profoundly and, according to Loris, along with the tracks, the way of racing has also changed.
"Today's tracks are much faster. You might have twenty or thirty seconds of really technical sections, and then the rest is really fast."
This had an immediate effect on the charts as well.
«Ten years ago you could take seven seconds and maybe be close to the top 10. Now if you take seven seconds it's better if you don't even run.»
The joke gives a good idea of how much the gaps have narrowed.
But there's another aspect: in the past, highly technical sections left more room for personal interpretation.
"Before, you might have a long technical section and you could find different lines. You could decide to hold back a bit in one spot and take more risks in another. There was more interpretation."
"Nowadays, however, there's often the fastest line and you have to take that. You have to be at the limit for the entire track."
The European Championship, from this point of view, was almost an exception.
"This weekend, there were several line options, and I liked that. In the World Cup, however, there are often fewer choices: you have to take that line and be fast."
Out of the final by a few hundredths
An Downhill Being so fast inevitably means the gaps are minimal. Being in or out of a final can depend on a fraction of a second.
"I like speed, so from that standpoint it's nice. The hard part is getting used to the fact that a few hundredths of a second can knock you out of the final."
However, over the years, the pressure has become something Loris feels he can handle.
"Mentally, it doesn't change much for me. I'm used to giving 100%, and I'll continue to give 100%."
However, the new race format also has its own dynamics.
"Now you have two chances to qualify, but that doesn't mean it's easier. When you get to Q2, you know it's your last chance, and you're going incredibly fast. The pressure is on."
«I do an average of nine workouts a week»
If the Downhill It changed on the track, but off the treadmill the transformation was perhaps even more evident. Today, being an Elite means training like a full-fledged professional athlete.
«Years ago maybe you went to the gym a bit, went out on your mountain bike, went around on your bike Downhill and that was enough. Now it's no longer like that."
Revelli's typical week gives a good idea.
"I average nine workouts a week. I have three days where I do double sessions."
And it's not just DH.
"I think it's important to do a bit of everything. The gym is essential for managing the speeds we have today, and then I do BMX, road biking, and obviously cycling."
The bike also plays an important role in Loris' preparation.
"I really like motorcycles. In the off-season I also do some regional enduro races, and during the winter I try to do a lot of motocross." «In my opinion it's very useful for speed training. When I do a lot of cross-country during the winter and then go back to the road bike Downhill, I almost have the feeling of going slowly.»
Telemetry? "I'd rather try without it first."
Technology is now an integral part of the Downhill modern, but for Loris it must remain a tool and not become an end.
"We don't have that much time to test over a weekend. Even when you do a lot of laps, you might end up with six descents. You have to make the most of them."
This is why telemetry doesn't necessarily come into play right from the start.
"I prefer to test without telemetry first. I want to understand the track and feel what's happening on the bike. Then, if there's a problem in a section or something we can't figure out, then we turn on the telemetry and go check it out."
«Today each team has two or three people on the track»
The professionalization of the Downhill It's not just about those on the bike. A structure now works around the rider, gathering information throughout the weekend.
"Each team now has two or three people on the track. They watch what's happening, they let you know if a move changes, and they film the runs."
Work continues even when the rehearsals are over.
"In the evenings, we watch videos, compare steps, and try to figure out where we can improve. These are all things that have become part of the job."
Downhill Italian: "We need to work more on the substance"
When the conversation turns to the Italian situation, Loris doesn't beat around the bush.
"The situation, in my opinion, is tough. There are few teams with a truly professional approach.
Among the organizations he sees working in the right direction, he points to the project in which he is directly involved, RedWill-Cimone supported by Santa Cruz Italia, and Black Crew.
"There are a lot of young people on our team, and I think the results of this European Championship have shown that the work we're doing is working."
Then there's Black Crew, which Revelli says is doing particularly interesting work with young people.
"They're doing a really good job. They always have at least two coaches on the slopes, they film the runs, and then in the evening they review the various steps with the kids to see what they can improve."
"That's how you really help a boy grow. It's not just about taking him to the competition."
Young people: "There are those who want to learn everything and those who think they've already arrived."
Talking about youth development and new generations, we inevitably come to another topic: what relationship do younger people have with the sport? Are they attracted by the work required to become an athlete or, above all, by the more visible and Instagrammable aspect of mountain biking?
For Loris there is no single answer.
"There are some really interested kids who want to learn and try to learn everything they can from those with more experience."
"Then there are also some who perhaps think they've already arrived. But it's always been this way."
In the end, according to Revelli, time will make the selection.
"I think in the long run, the ones who truly dedicate themselves are rewarded, those who put their heart and soul into it, and above all those who try to listen and absorb what they can learn from people with more experience."
Among the names of the new generation is also Michele Rinaldi, Italian Allievi champion, one of the boys to watch in the coming years.
What you don't see in a photo
We started with a jersey. That of the European champion. But by the end of our conversation, Sunday's result seems almost simply a pretext to tell everything that surrounds it.
Nine training sessions a week: gym, BMX, road, motorcycle, downhill. People on the trackside, runs filmed, telemetry when needed, lines analyzed in the evening. And then years of races, mistakes, falls, and attempts.
Finally, we give the floor to Loris once again.
"From the outside, maybe you only see the race. But today, to be fast, you have to focus on everything. The level is so high that you can't leave anything behind."
And this is probably the point from which we also want to start again.
The chat with Loris left us with several topics that deserve further exploration: How does an Elite skier read a line? How do you actually use telemetry? How do you train for speed? What does a World Cup rider see in a passage that an amateur misses?
We'll talk to him about it again.
Because if there is one thing that clearly emerges when listening to an athlete who runs at these levels, it is that one of the most difficult to die clichés about Downhill has very little to do with reality.
To be fast in DH, you don't have to be crazy.
You need to know exactly what you're doing.
And do it very, very quickly.
