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Teams & Riders Fausto Masnada Grinta Appreciation Thread

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That's unexpected.
I thought he'd be sidelined for longer.
He started training again around April 30th. It was about 40 days with no training, a very difficult period after Catalunya

On 14th May he went to Livigno for a 3 weeks altitude training camp. Today is his last day training there and he has 1 week at home before Suisse.

He has been training with Bagioli, Mattia Cattaneo and Matteo Badilatti from FDJ.

He does not know is race program after June, but he will likely be in NC after Suisse. There is a very small chance he will be at the TDF, but is very unlikely.
 
These last 2 days Fausto had really good training to build the condition. It was 3 months with no racing and the pace has been high in these hilly stages at Switzerland.

He was working hard, staying at the front to help position Remco and Van Vilder.

I don't think we can expect too much in the mountains, he is here to work for the team and Fausto is usually not the best when returning to racing, he needs some races to return to top condition.

But I am impressed with his fitness and his passion, he is always at the front of the peloton. And he fights for his friend

He has the worst luck in the peloton, if he can avoid this a big win is guaranteed in the late summer or autumn.
 
Our great Fausto was surprised by his level yesterday. So soon after Mononucleosis he wasn't expecting to fight for a stage win. Shows the power of passion and dedication . Soon the hard work will be rewarded. He was the strongest yesterday.

'After a very difficult period the last 2 months fighting with the mononucleosis, I would never have imagined that I could fight for a stage win here at the Tour de Suisse'

'Unfortunately the victory was out of my reach, I was not able to drop all the riders of the breakaway and also probably I made some tactical mistakes. Let's look ahead tomorrow for another hard stage'

I think the fact that Fausto was the strongest in such a move so soon in his comeback only emphasises his strength. We thought his season might be over.

Grande Fausto


View: https://www.instagram.com/p/Ce6nLr4jsl3/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY=
 
Our great Fausto was surprised by his level yesterday. So soon after Mononucleosis he wasn't expecting to fight for a stage win. Shows the power of passion and dedication . Soon the hard work will be rewarded. He was the strongest yesterday.

'After a very difficult period the last 2 months fighting with the mononucleosis, I would never have imagined that I could fight for a stage win here at the Tour de Suisse'

'Unfortunately the victory was out of my reach, I was not able to drop all the riders of the breakaway and also probably I made some tactical mistakes. Let's look ahead tomorrow for another hard stage'

I think the fact that Fausto was the strongest in such a move so soon in his comeback only emphasises his strength. We thought his season might be over.

Grande Fausto


View: https://www.instagram.com/p/Ce6nLr4jsl3/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY=

I appreciate that he was also very open talking about his tactical mistakes
 
It was a joke, but Fausto's career is basically a copycat of Lanfranchi until now, apart from the 3rd in Romandie. Both were 2nd in Lombardia and Italy RR Championship, a stage win in Giro, a GC win in an exotic race and several placings around Top10 in GT.

Yeah, it's definitely too early to say Masnada has had a better career than Lanfranchi, but I believe he'll also be able to win the Tour de Langkawi one day.
 
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Article here about Fausto's season and the mononucleosis. It is all in Italian, but with some understanding of the language and some time watching the sport, should not be too difficult to understand a lot:

https://bici.pro/news/professionisti/quei-55-giorni-stop-non-scalfito-grinta-masnada/

Some key points:

-He already noticed signs of fatigue and struggling to recover at the UAE tour. He still went to Teide after that and to Catalunya but felt strange the whole time. After abandoning Catalunya he thought he had a bronchitis, but tests from the doctors revealed mononucleosis.

-In total, he had 55 days off the bike. Sometimes he tried to walk, but after 40 minutes couldn't continue due to fatigue.

-His first 1.5 hour training ride at the end of April felt like a victory

-He is currently training at Livigno with most of the Quickstep team. He will return to racing in San Sebastian, where he will probably work for Alaphilippe and Evenpoel, depending on how the legs are (he actually says he will 'respect the hierarchies'). Then he will lead the team at Vuelta a Burgos.

-The plan is to go the la Vuelta after that, but he is not absolutely sure yet whether he is selected (for me he would be 1st name at the teamsheet)

-He believes he has grown a lot as a rider since joining the world tour, but lacks the continuity and the opportunities to show exactly how capable he is. He he has wished to do 2 grand tours on the same year, to build the endurance, and says that only having 15 race day in July is a problem.

-Very grateful to the team for the faith they have and giving him time to look after himself.


Grande Fausto. To be one of the strongest in Suisse so soon after all this shows the grinta, the hard work, the character and the ability
 
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Today stage in Vuelta España I am happy with the performance, even though its , on the paper , a bad result.

After stage 4 I thought he has again Mononuclosis or illness, he will abondon, same bad form that he had in San Sebastian and Burgos.

So to see him fight for the win was really good and shows things are going in the right direction. He attack at 2km and almost snapped the elastic and bridge to soler, which would have been a stage victory.

So on paper only 12th on the stage but Fausto has to play his attacking cards, and sometimes you are caught. It almost worked. And many would have given up after getting dropped on the steep climb, but Fausto is a pure racer with Grinta, he almost got victory from the depths of defeat.

The stages later in the race with shallower climbs should suit him better, but the dynamics within the team will also impact his chances of a stage win. We see how the vuelta goes, but season does no end after La Vuelta.

I hope Cassani is watching before Australia, and of course there is Lombardia coming.

Anyway sad to see such a gracious guy such as Fausto getting hated online by so called Quickstep fans, who are really just Belgian Remco fan boys. Remco won many races because of Fausto. They are complaining that whole team is sh*t in 2022, except his royal highness the coddled Prince of la redoute
 
Complaining about the bad luck of Roglic is becoming a very conformist position, not just in this forum but also in the wider cycling world.

It's a shame that other guys who had also probably worse bad luck don't get noticed because they are no thermonuclear like Roglic.
Fausto has a true bad luck that actually hampers him, hence why he doesn't get fangirls tweeting about him like Roglic.

After coming back from Mononuclosis so soon, but having more physical problems and crashing on this la vuelta, Fausto has been dealing with saddle sore in recent days.

It's been a quiet vuelta (apart from those 2 memorable breakaways in Basque country where he showed his prowess) because he does just his gregario duties and didn't have the top form.

It's a shame to see Fausto like this. But after 3 weeks in the legs and some rest hopefully he will find his proper level.

View: https://www.instagram.com/p/CiIdlGGD5lZ/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=


'Third and last day of rest here at the la vuelta. The last stages were very tough and my physical condition is not super due to a saddle sore problem'

'Riding bike with this kind of problem a lot of hours every day is painful but I'm trying to do my best, to help the team as much as I can and fighting everyday to keep the red jersey of remco evenepoell until Madrid'

'He deserves it and we all believe in this goal, and I want to thank the team for supporting me despite my condition is not at best '

'Tomorrow starts the 3rd week, we will face it as if it were the first day. Let's go!!!!'
 
Complaining about the bad luck of Roglic is becoming a very conformist position, not just in this forum but also in the wider cycling world.

It's a shame that other guys who had also probably worse bad luck don't get noticed because they are no thermonuclear like Roglic.
Fausto has a true bad luck that actually hampers him, hence why he doesn't get fangirls tweeting about him like Roglic.

After coming back from Mononuclosis so soon, but having more physical problems and crashing on this la vuelta, Fausto has been dealing with saddle sore in recent days.

It's been a quiet vuelta (apart from those 2 memorable breakaways in Basque country where he showed his prowess) because he does just his gregario duties and didn't have the top form.

It's a shame to see Fausto like this. But after 3 weeks in the legs and some rest hopefully he will find his proper level.

View: https://www.instagram.com/p/CiIdlGGD5lZ/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=


'Third and last day of rest here at the la vuelta. The last stages were very tough and my physical condition is not super due to a saddle sore problem'

'Riding bike with this kind of problem a lot of hours every day is painful but I'm trying to do my best, to help the team as much as I can and fighting everyday to keep the red jersey of remco evenepoell until Madrid'

'He deserves it and we all believe in this goal, and I want to thank the team for supporting me despite my condition is not at best '

'Tomorrow starts the 3rd week, we will face it as if it were the first day. Let's go!!!!'
I really appreciate the drugs you’re on, will you share?
 
Season over for our great Fausto, saddle sore means that he cannot race in October :((((((

View: https://www.instagram.com/p/CjKhu9ijjDy/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=


The Lombardia is his favourite one day race, and Giro is his favourite stage race. He was supposed to be leader at both and instead misses them both..

I can't think of an active rider who in the last 2 years had worse luck. Fausto such a gracious guy and he doesn't deserve this, we will miss his crazy attacks this week.
 

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