Not Just Sailing in the Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Team

Gym sessions and practice sailing, but also bike rides, have now become a part of the sailing team’s athletic training: Checco Bruni tells us more.

It’s been over a year now since an enthusiastic group of cyclists got together to train on intense bike rides.
The cycling training perfectly complements gym sessions and sailing: it improves heart health and provides muscle tone, without trauma to the joints. In addition it is a great way to discover the territory – and Sardinia offers extraordinary landscape, routes and weather conditions.

Checco Bruni, one of the sailing team veterans and a keen cyclist, leads the group. For over four years he has been “chewing up miles” on two wheels, thus earning the role of “captain” – responsible for arranging rides, defining the timetable, and choosing the routes according to the daily training.
“A few years ago, when I had to lose weight for the races, cycling became part of my athletic training and it was a great alternative to running” explains Checco.
About 20 team members regularly join the cycling sessions, including people from the shore and design departments.
“The group has been growing” he continues. “ At the beginning there were just 3-4 of us, then, in time, other team members joined us: some were already enthusiasts but had put the bike aside, and some were just curious and decided to get involved.”

Usually the guys do about 4 rides per week of approximately 50 kilometres each, the perfect distance to work on specific areas of training.
“Sometimes, when we have a day off, we take the opportunity for an “epic” ride: over 100 kilometres.”
Even during lockdown, no one abandoned the two wheels. The group continued to train on rollers, using online platforms for virtual sessions.

“It was a way of getting together and it was very useful. It helped us to stay fit and at the same time to keep training together having fun.”

As soon as the national policies allowed it, the group resumed outdoor riding and, to mark the occasion, the Pirelli cycling department supplied the team with P ZERO™ Velo Colour Edition clincher tyres, the most high-performance choice in the Pirelli range. This product was chosen to match the good conditions of the Sardinia coastal roads, offering the team a reliable and high performance product that could also minimize the risk of falls.

One quarantine afternoon Davide Cassani, Italian national road cycling team coach, joined the group as a guest in one of the webinars organized by Jacopo Plazzi (sailing team member).

“It was a very passionate chat. He spent over an hour with us. Davide is a very positive person, a great motivator. He told us some stories from his career and gave us several pieces of priceless advice.”

In October the team will move to New Zealand and everyone is planning to bring their bikes to the other side of the world. For sure cycling will continue to be part of the training programme and will also offer the chance to discover new places.