Matteo Badilatti is ready for the Tour of Switzerland: “It’s an honor to participate, the condition is finally growing and the team has great ambitions”

Matteo Badilatti’s 2022 has not yet taken off. The Swiss rider of Groupama FDJ has not yet managed to find the right pedal stroke due to various ailments that have weakened him and prevented him from expressing his full potential. Now his condition has significantly improved and we joined him on the eve of the Tour of Switzerland, the home race, where motivation and strength multiply thanks to the affection and closeness of the fans.

Matteo, your start of the season was not positive, what happened?

My start to the season was terrible, a bacterial infection blocked me and I started training late and couldn’t recover fully. Then I got pneumonia, in short, a start full of difficulties. With the Giro di Romandia I suffered but after the race I disconnected for 10 days to recover, then I resumed racing in France and I found good sensations, I am not yet at 100% but my condition is growing.

You are now ready for the Tour of Switzerland, your home race. What does it represent for you?

For me it is a pleasure and at the same time a great honor to participate. They are from the Grisons, from Poschiavo, close to Italy and the mythical Mortirolo. As a child I didn’t particularly follow cycling but I remember that it was a great party when the Giro passed close to home and I must say that I really would have liked to be a protagonist one day.

Let’s talk about the race: have you already scored some stages and what are your goals for the rest of the season as well?

I must say that the route is always interesting with two uphill finishes and other interesting stages, but first comes the team: we will try to obtain prestigious results and I will be available to the group but I will not hold back if the opportunity arises to seize a personal result.I hope I have left all the problems of the beginning of the year behind and with a good condition I will be able to do a good race, and soon after I will concentrate on the national championships. Then we will go to the heights to better prepare for the second part of the season and together with the team we will decide the racing program.