De Aliprandini and that unbridled passion for motocross: "I have a lot of fun and I train"

The vice world champion of giant talks about his activity that he alternates with skiing, especially in the spring-summer period. And Luca has also returned to national competitions ...

Tuesday 20 July 2021 10 minutes reading time

Luca De Aliprandini is a 360-degree athlete, who has well imprinted the gene of speed, adrenaline and pure emotion in every sporting discipline in his DNA. For years, alongside skiing, he has had a true and authentic passion for motocross: from his garage perfectly set up like a real workshop, to training near his home on the Pietramurata track that hosts the Motocross World Championship. For the vice world champion of giant, the passion for this sport is equal to that of snow and, not surprisingly, we note in the notebook the participation in senior national competitions, where the true champion stuff of Team Salomon is not denied. After the long winter season full of great satisfactions, Luca can devote more time to his passions: "The silver medal was a great emotion, almost unexpected - the words of the Trentino specialist - I have been so many times close to a great result , but then I've always made a mistake. Being able to put all the pieces together for a success is something unique and when it comes to the World Cup heats, I always get very excited ”. The desire to overcome his limits and always do better pushes him to find himself at high levels also in other disciplines such as motocross: “I have always had the passion, I always had my hands in the engines, I often worked out my wasps. When I was 19 I bought my first dirt bike and, now, I have been practicing it regularly for training for almost 10 years. I have a lot of fun and lately it is no longer just a leisure, but I'm trying to do it a little more seriously, also to use it just as a workout ”, says the blue specialist while mounting a wheel on his 125 in a super-equipped garage. “In the summer after the season, so from early April, I start riding my motorbike up to the Argentina block in August. In this period of the year I am able to go out on the track more or less twice a week, I have to carve out some time within the athletic training, but riding a bike is also a workout so I insert it anyway. In total I will be able to do about 50-60 hours in the summer ”. There are many technical affinities with skiing, explains De Aliprandini again. “They are two sports that are very similar especially for the use of the legs and torso. It is necessary to move to work well: therefore the upper part of the torso must go towards the outside, like on skis, and the load must go on the outside foot. Then the two disciplines are certainly united by concentration: despite the tiredness it is very important to be mentally fresh even under stress, as many trainers always repeat. In a ski race in the last 15-20 seconds of the heats it is essential to be lucid to be able to give your best to the finish. This is absolutely true also for motocross, in which the heats often last even more than half an hour. The challenge here is being able to be lucid until the end, and often in the last laps I manage to make my best passes, just when I am most tired. This is also a very positive thing for skiing, after the minute of the race it is very important to remain lucid anyway ”. A general passion for engines, for racing and competitions that makes him define the perfect Sunday - when he is not competing - the one on the sofa watching all the races of motoring and motorcycling events. But motocross for Luca also means comparison and friendship. There are many athletes in the white circus who have the same passion as him: "There are many fans of two wheels among skiers, not only of motocross but also of enduro, there are a couple of" sick "like me, but I think I am one of the best in the world of skiing at practicing motocross. Marcel Hirscher also shares the same passion, in fact we wanted to organize an outing if he came here to Riva del Garda, but the motocross challenge will be tough for him ... On skis he will have beaten me a few times, but in bike it is very difficult to be in front of me ”. There are also many friendships born on the motocross tracks, such as the one with Jeremy Seewer, the Swiss vice-champion of the world: "In May I stayed at Jeremy's home in Belgium for a week, I was able to train with him and therefore I learned many things and many secrets ". Injuries cannot be excluded on the bike, but an athlete of Luca's caliber manages to live with this aspect, without ever going further and as if it were now natural, he perfectly manages to have risks and dangers under control: "It is also a training psychological: after a few years I have acquired a certain handling with the vehicle and with my technique, so I know quite well how to manage myself. When I go to train I evaluate the various track conditions well and I can manage how much I can risk or if there are days when I have to be a little more careful. In the last few years I have been able to find my rhythm, so I go quite calmly, I minimize the risk of injury ”. Helmet, curves and speed accompany Luca's days therefore in summer and winter, but in the backstage of the interview, between a wheel change and a suit change, De Aliprandini told about the continuous challenges with his partner Michelle Gisin, Olympic champion in the combined at PyeongChang 2018. Doing better and better for athletes with a capital A is an incorrigible vice. Your eyes shine with pure energy, in fact, as soon as you undo your helmet right after a training session and tests on the muddy track of Pietramurata. His agenda now begins to thicken also with national motocross events: “Normally I don't do many races, I hadn't competed for two years, this year I signed up for the Italian Senior 125 Championship. It went very well, I managed to qualify for Group A and the top 40 riders and I finished the first heat in 20th position. In the second heat I unfortunately had some technical problems. A great experience that made me regain the pace of the race a bit: before the start, I still felt as if it were a ski race, I felt the desire to do that something more. So mentally participating in these races is also good for me in view of the new season ”.

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