<\/p>\n
He arrived in Australia around ten days before the race with the rest of the Visma group. \u201cHere in Australia it\u2019s nice,\u201d he explained. \u201cIn the last days there was some rain and the temperatures dropped a bit. Compared to those who arrived at the start of January, we avoided the big heat. The maximum temperatures are around 30 to 35 degrees, so we can say it\u2019s a real Australian summer.\u201d<\/p>\n
But climate is not what defines this step. It is the calendar.<\/p>\n
A calendar built around beliefUnlike previous seasons in the development team, this year his programme has been built entirely around what Visma think he can become. \u201cThis year the calendar was decided by the team based on the idea they have of me and of the rider they think I am and can become,\u201d he said. \u201cThe Tour Down Under<\/a> will be a first test to compare myself with the level of the WorldTour.\u201d<\/p>\n That test has already started with the prologue in Adelaide, where Visma went all in early and then paid for it later. For Mattio, the result matters less than the experience. His season is not about chasing general classification. It is about learning to exist inside racing at the very top.<\/p>\n He knows exactly what comes next. \u201cAt the moment I know that after Australia I\u2019ll go home and then leave straight away for the UAE Tour where I\u2019ll work for Vingegaard,\u201d he said. \u201cAfter that I return to Italy and prepare for the Classics. I\u2019ll do Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne and the opening in Flanders. The team has put me as a reserve for Milano-Sanremo and I\u2019m on the list for Roubaix.\u201d<\/p>\n For a rider coming from the development team, that is not a small vote of confidence.<\/p>\n From development project to WorldTour reality<\/p>\n The shift has not just been sporting. It has been structural. \u201cWhen you move to the WorldTour something is different, it\u2019s normal,\u201d Mattio said. \u201cIn the past with the devo team we were about fifteen riders and ten staff. This year in December at camp there were thirty riders and around seventy staff.\u201d<\/p>\n Yet in the middle of that scale, some things stayed familiar. \u201cLuckily some certainties remained, like the nutritionist and my reference DS, who was also promoted from the devo team to the WorldTour,\u201d he said. \u201cBeing grown inside the team has been an advantage. I already knew the staff, so it was easier.\u201d<\/p>\n What matters most is how the team see him as a rider. \u201cAt the moment I\u2019ll work in support of the various leaders, but without a precise role,\u201d he explained. \u201cThey\u2019ve defined me as an all-rounder, so I can go well in different races and on many types of parcours: flat, short climbs, and I\u2019ll also try the role of lead out in sprints.\u201d<\/p>\n That versatility is exactly why he has been placed alongside two very different leaders. \u201cHere in Australia I\u2019ll be next to Matthew Brennan, while at the UAE Tour the leader will be Vingegaard,\u201d he said. \u201cFirst a sprinter, then a climber. It means the team believes in my qualities.\u201d<\/p>\n Dreaming big without skipping steps<\/p>\n Even with that faith, Mattio is realistic about what this season is meant to be. It is not about proving he belongs. It is about learning how to belong.<\/p>\n Still, dreams matter. \u201cParticipating in one of the two Monuments I\u2019ve been put on the list for would be a dream,\u201d he said. \u201cRoubaix is an objective. I want to test myself and see how different it is from the under-23 race. How much faster it is and how you move in the race.\u201d<\/p>\n That line fits neatly into Visma\u2019s wider picture. The team are not just building around Vingegaard and Van Aert for today. They are quietly stacking riders who might define their next decade.<\/p>\n Mattio is not being sold as a future star. He is being placed inside winning environments to see what grows.<\/p>\n At the Tour Down Under<\/a>, he is already living that reality. The prologue has shown how unforgiving the WorldTour is<\/a>, even over 3.6 kilometres. Over the next days, he will see how stage racing at this level really works.<\/p>\n And somewhere between riding next to Brennan in Australia and riding for Vingegaard in the desert, the idea he voiced so simply will start to feel real.<\/p>\n He is no longer watching the stars.<\/p>\n He is racing with them.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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