Dubai: It seems like SkyDive Dubai Pro Cycling Team are competing in a race of their own in the ongoing Dubai Tour.
Their riders led by Italian sprinter Andreas Palini may not match the levels of some of the top teams competing in the Tour but they are working to a plan to make their presence felt - stay in front from the onset and target the intermediate sprints.
The home team is expected to implement that strategy all through the four stages. Their efforts immediately reaped dividends on stage one as their Moroccan rider Soufiane Haddi ended up on the podium claiming both the white and UAE colours’ jerseys for the best young rider and for winning the intermediate spirits, respectively. In stage two on Thursday, too, they had a rider in Francisco Mancebo amongst the early breakaways and the Spaniard also lined himself well for the intermediate sprints, but somehow his efforts fell short.
The credit of this transformation goes to their sports director Alberto Volpi, who is just into his fifth month with the team but has already made a significant impact.
Roped in just before the inaugural Abu Dhabi Tour last season, Volpi has formed a core team that is ready to work as a unit. The team straightaway showed signs of improvement during the capital tour itself as they were successful in claiming a couple of intermediate sprints.
This time, Palini has compatriot Ivan Santaromita for support and the presence of Spaniard Francisco Mancebo adds much-needed depth. Both Moroccans Haddi and Adil Jelloul, and Albanian Kameraj Xhuliano, have ambitions to excel, while Emirati riders Ibrahim Al Ali and Tariq Murad Obaid are fast learners.
“When I took over I felt that the zeal to excel was missing and that is what I wanted to change first,” said Volpi, who has tremendous experience behind him having been with PRO teams like Bianchi-Piaggio, Sammontana-Bianchi, Batik-Del Monte to name a few.
Volpi felt that his biggest challenge was to change the “mentality”. “The team mentality had to change and I wanted them to be aggressive. Now I have four to five guys who follow everything I ask them to do to improve the level,” said the 53-year-old, who was extremely pleased with the way the team has evolved on this Tour.
“The guys have been very, very strong at the beginning of the race and been consistent. They have pressed for the sprints and so I’m very happy. Palini is one of the best sprinters in the team and he is getting good support; so hopefully we should win some more intermediate sprints,” added Volpi, who was also pretty pleased with the response shown by the local riders.
“The main thing is everyone, not just others, but Emirati riders have also improved. Ali and Tariq have made significant ground and I want them to try and gain some sort of an achievement,” said Volpi, who felt that taking baby steps is important.
“We have to work slowly. I had to start from food, recovery, training and in these few months we have improved. It will take time for us to be amongst the best. I want them to also target World Championships,” said Volpi, whose ward Haddi will also be competing at the Rio Olympics later this year.
“Haddi is improving in leaps and bounds but you cannot expect him to deliver at the Games. He needs more time to mature but it will be a huge learning curve. I’m working hard with him and he has responded well.”
Haddi, who continues to hang on to the white jersey after stage two, also hailed the impact that Volpi has brought about in the team saying: “His experience has helped us immensely. We have learnt a lot but this is just the start and the success in stage one was a boost. I want to carry on and make a mark. It has been good to keep the white jersey but today I couldn’t be there up front. I will try to win intermediate sprints in the remaining stages.”
