The World Cup is no longer a mirage for Michele Rainer

He is in head of the World Cup at his first year as a senior, so he can with good reason feel confident to face the next two World Cups in Holland and France in August. He had to leave the Sport Resort of the Italian Police Force to dedicate himself completely to rolleskiing, but it is still the trainer Ploner, that makes his training programmes.

Michele Rainer proved already as a junior, he was good on rollerskis, but who could imagine, he was to take the lead of the World Cup at his first year in the senior category. The Italian national team confirmed its strengh even though it was without its superior leader Alfio Di Gregorio, absent both in the Czech Republci, the European championships in Jablone, and in Poland, Jelena Gora, as this young hopeful got in the top of the position and Alberto Pertile in the third, after the two first parts of the World Cup. In both of the World Cups Michele Rainer got behind Rezac, a Czech specialist on cross country skiing at long-distance and classic style. In the Marcialonga race he demonstrated his strengh, as he ascended the uphill at Cascata, “picking” all the way with his very strong arms. He was only beaten by the winner Aukland, who furthermore got in the final group at the FIS Marathon Cup. That this young guy was only overtaken in the final sprint, underlines the fact of his potential. His home town is Pinzolo, he is son of a retired official from the Italian Police Force, and before he got the admission to the very same Italian Police Force, he grew up with the Carisolo Ski Club in the beginning, and afterwards with the one from Val di Sole with Enrico Cavallai. What he loses by the stature to the adversaries, he wins by the competitive power, thanks to the determination and innate class he has got. Michele is not strongly endowed on skis even though he won the relay race of the Italian championships 2001 together with Luca Longo and Italo Varesco, all in all a team from the region of Trentino. “Unfortunately Michele Rainer doesn’t have the same profit of his work on snow as on asphalt, because he’s not able to transfer his strengh to the cross country ski with his powerful and too quick rhythm. He do as well have some problems with the foothold in classic, incidentally it mirrors his results”. This is the technical judgement of Sepp Ploner, the present trainer of the Italian Police Force and former trainer of the Italian national cross country team, who still makes programmes to Michele, although he left the Sport Resort of Selva Gardena to dedicate himself completely to the rollerski sport.

The graduated surveyor will continue as a police officer after the course which startes in September in Iglesias, so he then can do his service in some police station while he is training and competing in his spare time. Ploner follows him with interest. “He’s an admirable athlet and professional as only a very few in his age. He allways dedicates himself in an incredible way for every kind of training, 110 per cent. He has an impressive meticulousness about his equipment whether it’s ski, sticks or rollerski. He did the cross country ski season until the Italian Championships in Slingia, in the end of March, and then afterwards allmost without any special training he started to get results in those competitions at a very high level. It would have been interesting to see him do the Italian Championship in rollerski, but he didn’t manage to turn up because he had to serve at a polling station. It really doesn’t surprise me if he’s going to win the Worls Cup”. Alfred Runggaldier, the present trainer of the Italian national junior team has also a positive opinion, actually it was he who got him introduced to the Sport Resort of the Italian Police Force. “He’s a good athlet in cross crontry skiing, it’s only that he hasn’t been able to get a steep up the ladder apropos quality. He doesn’t have enough sensitivity to the snow i.e. not enough ability to transfer the same capacity as he’s demonstrating on rollerski. He’s young and he only has to get some more experience but the future is his because he’s a serious guy, he has a good brain, willpower, a lot of drive and determination. We are sorry about he left, but he choosed a sport which doesn’t take part of our Sport Resort”.

And how do Michele Rainer judge his technical skills?
I have much to learn, but I think I’ll get away with it, both in skating and classic, which is the technique style I prefer. Certainly, I still have to improve myself a lot, but I’ll be able to do it with the national team. It’s definitely going to be difficult as a senior, and further more I have to compete with athlets who’re competing for years and therefore have more experience and malice that I have. I’ve made good start as a senior so I believe I deserve to gain confidence of the technical commissary of the Italian national team, namely the lawyer Pierluigi Papa.

Do you belive you’ll be able to win the World Cup?
If you had asked me in the beginning, I would have said no, because you’ll find athlets at a very high level. But since I’m in the head of the World Cup, the thought crossed my mind and now that I’m up against it, I don’t give up. I’m lucky to have some very strong teammates by my side, and if it’s going to be necessary we’ll always be able to make team tactics. It’s even better if also Alfio Di Gregorio is going to be present at the next two parts of the World Cup in Holland and France in August, internationally he’s the strongest athlet. It’s like being one jump ahead of the others because he’ll be able to determine the outcome, control the race and separate the groups. He is a fighter, the adversaryies should keep an eye on him and this may open up new opportunities for me. On the other hand, Rezac is invincible in the final sprint (he is in the photo from the European championships in Jablonec) and further he’s got a very strong upper part of the body. I managed to overtake him in the uphill, but then he beat me in the final sprint in persute race.

How are you training and what kind of equipment do you use?
I’m following the programmes, Ploner makes for me. I’m training about 18 to 20 hours a week in the build up period and 9 to 10 during in the step down. I’m doing everything on my own; running, hiking in the mountains, special training with weights to improve strength or rides on my road bike. I like to go uphill, I’m a climber with a high gear and I run on pure strength. Val Rendena is filled with beautifull tracks. I’m going uphill to Madonna di Campiglio on rollerskis and then my Father picks me up by car. I’m using the three wheels model from Skiway in classic style. Actually, I prefer a model with two wheels, because I think it has more stability and it’s more profitable in the phase of pushing.
For how lang time do you go in for rollerskiing?
For at least ten years, when I still was a child. I did it as prepreration for cross-country skiing. I did gather some lovely satisfactions from the snow, from there I’ve got medals from the relay races in the youth category, I was always in the top five. Once I finished second at the Italian championships for youth at Clusone. Now it’s the other way round, now it’s a supplement to rollerskiing. I’ll therefore continue to go cross-country skiing; competing in some great marathon and in some race of the Italian Cup. I’ll do just like all the other rollerski specialists.

They are saying that also in the everyday life you’re much more grown-up for your age, that you’re not wasting your time......
It’s naturally to have a different view of life, if one is going in for sport at a certain level and intend to do it in a professionel manner. I’m busy with my daily training, I have to deal with competitions and I have to care to recover. It isn’t much time I have left to spend with my girlfriend and some small works. I like to be amused but I don’t go to discotheques and I don’t have any particular hobby.

Giorgio Brusadelli                     

Translated from Italian into English        
by Charlotte Klein