Cycling, Affini's dreams: "I want the Italian time trial title and the Tour debut"

Rome, 27 February 2025 - Mantuan by birth but now, also for emotional reasons, Dutch by adoption, as demonstrated by his recent candidacy for sportsman of the year of the province of Drenthe, Edward Affini he doesn't want to stop now that he is finally reaping the deserved satisfactions in his career: above all the European time trial title won last September in Limburg, also embellished by the gold in the mixed team relay in the World Cup di Zurich.  

Affini's statements

  Not only a man who races against time and a powerful teammate who is also valid when the road starts to climb: almost as if he wanted to follow in the footsteps of his 'twin' Filippo Gana, the runner of the Visma-Lease a Bike is also beginning to appear in the world of Classics starting from the upcoming participations in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad e Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne. The real expectation of the class of '96, as confessed to the microphones of CyclingFlits, but it's all about being able to wear the continental time trial champion's jersey. "This jersey and my new bike are special, but obviously that won't mean I'll use them more often for training. Instead, I hope to do it many times in the race, managing to use this energy to get great results. The only sure thing now is that I'll give my best". Paradoxically, Allied Products, still speaking of time trials, he achieved the title of European champion before that of national champion, always a taboo also due to the presence in the race of a certain Ganna, an almost unbeatable rival. "In fact, when I was under-23 I won that title once. Doing it this year, obviously as a professional, is one of my big goals, as it had been in the past years. In Italy there is a lot of competition, because there are many strong time trial riders and I think this is a fantastic thing. But, apart from these considerations, I would like to finally become Italian champion". More difficult, at least for the 2025, to hypothesize a leap in terms of title from the European to the world championship. "This year the World time trial is not for me. I think the route in Rwanda is very complicated. It's true, it's always a test against time, but because of the altitude I think it's more suitable for climbers, used to managing this extra difficulty. In pole position I see Remco Evenepoel, holder of the world and Olympic titles, but also Tadej pogacar, jonas vingegaard e Primois Roglic. Among ours I also mention Mattia Cattaneo, who could seize this wonderful opportunity". Not only the Italian time trial title: among the dreams of Allied Products there is also participation in the Tour de France. "Obviously I would like to be there, but the choice is not mine, but the team's. The dream is to participate, maybe already this year. I think I can guarantee my contribution also to the Great Boucle as I do in other races, without improvising new things."

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