The professional\u00a0cycling\u00a0pack is an itinerant bunch, constantly on the move from one race to the next, from one country to the next. However, there are two riders with double ties to Poland. We\u2019re talking about two certified\u00a0authentic\u00a0Italians, Enrico\u00a0Gasparotto\u00a0from\u00a0team Bahrain Merida\u00a0and\u00a0Cesare Benedetti\u00a0from\u00a0team Bora \u2013 Hansgrohe.\u00a0What do these two riders have in common? Well, it just so happens that both of them found love in Poland.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cI met my wife Dorotea in Livigno in 2007,\u201d<\/em> explains the 31-year-old Cesare Benedetti from\u00a0Rovereto. \u201cShe was there training with the Polish National cycling team. When the season ended I came to Poland. I was twenty years old. Before 2007, I had never ventured beyond Italian borders. I flew to\u00a0Katowice,\u00a0which was the first city I saw in Poland. Since that winter in 2007 everything in my life\u00a0has\u00a0changed.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Gasparotto\u2019s experience was a bit different. \u201cI met Anna in Switzerland in 2008. She was working for a sport management company. Let\u2019s\u00a0just\u00a0say it was love at first sight. We got married 4 years ago in a\u00a0Country western\u00a0themed\u00a0wedding.\u00a0Everybody was dressed in country western garb. We had a blast.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Throughout the years the trips to Poland\u00a0have become increasingly intense.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWhen I have time off from the races, I like coming here to Poland with\u00a0Dorotea\u00a0and my daughter\u00a0Janina, who is now two years old,\u201d<\/em> continues\u00a0Benedetti. \u201cI\u2019d like to spend even more time here\u00a0but the problem is that there are no mountains in\u00a0Gliwice, the town where my wife\u2019s family lives. It\u2019s a big problem for a climber like me. When I go on a bike ride\u00a0and all I see ahead of me is flatland, I start getting a bit anxious,\u201d\u00a0<\/em>jokes Cesare. \u201cI also love the\u00a0Tour de Pologne.\u00a0The first time I rode it was in\u00a02013.\u00a0The race kicked off from my native\u00a0Trentino.\u00a0It was very exciting.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI also like coming to Poland a lot,\u201d<\/em> explains the 36-year-old Gasparotto from Sacile. \u201cWe come here for a while every year. My wife\u2019s family has a house surrounded by nature near\u00a0Wroclaw.\u00a0It\u2019s the perfect place to recharge your batteries after a long season of training and racing. Sometimes I spend hours fishing and relaxing. It\u2019s not bad at all.\u00a0I also feel a special bond with the\u00a0Tour de Pologne.\u00a0I dream of winning a stage in this country. In this edition I\u2019ve come close but I was lacking something in the climbs.\u00a0 In any case,\u00a0I\u2019m not\u00a0a climber.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n And how do the two Italians fare with the Polish language and culture?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Benedetti: \u201cI really like the Polish culture and also the cuisine. I speak Polish thanks to my wife and her family.\u00a0I also got some help from by ex-team mate\u00a0Bartosz Huzarski.\u00a0He would do live broadcasts for his fans and he included me in his feeds. Now people in Poland recognize me.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cMy Polish is a disaster,\u201d<\/em> says\u00a0Gasparotto. \u201cMy wife gets really mad but what can I do? Perhaps after I retire I\u2019ll give it a try.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n There is one thing they both agree on. \u201cPoland is a great nation,\u201d<\/em> explains\u00a0Enrico. \u201cThe people are fantastic and living is easy. Anna and I really like\u00a0Krakow.\u00a0It\u2019s a magical city. We\u00a0even came here as tourists a few years ago to watch the Tour de Pologne.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI\u00a0feel\u00a0the same,\u201d<\/em> concludes\u00a0Cesare. \u201cHere I\u2019ve found a familial atmosphere and an easy lifestyle. It\u2019s a country that suffered a lot in the past but now it is growing without leaving behind its traditions. <\/em>It\u2019s a bit like the\u00a0Tour de Pologne\u00a0itself!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The professional\u00a0cycling\u00a0pack is an itinerant bunch, constantly on the move from one race to the next, from one country to … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n