Cannondale Chairside Chats: Paolo Longo Borghini (part three)

For the past two days we’ve been chatting to Paolo about his family and his role on the team. Today we’re going to touch on a few more light-hearted topics such as who’s the most stylish member of the team and how he maintains his enviably svelte figure.

G4: Riders have a lot of down time. When they’re not wearing their cycling kit, so what’s important to you in your team casual wear?

PLB: For me, I love to stay very comfortable and even at home I often wear my tracksuit because, when we’re on the bicycle, we’re very free, we don’t wear many clothes and I love this feeling of freedom, so I like to have the same sense of freedom off the bike. I don’t like very constrictive clothes; I like clothes to be loose and comfortable.

G4: You have some very stylish team mates. Who do you think is the best-dressed?

PLB: Fabio Sabatini and Damiano Caruso.

G4: Has Damiano paid you to say that? He’s emerging as the front-runner for “Most Stylish Team-mate”.

PLB: No (laughs), he’s a typical Latin lover. He’s good-looking and always has perfect hair. Sabatini too, he’s a very beautiful man.

G4: How do you like to relax when you’re at races or training camps?

PLB: I enjoy reading and catching up with all the world and sports’ news on the internet. I like to keep up to date. I just enjoy the peace and quiet as I can’t do that at home because I have two small daughters. Of course, I love being at home with them but it’s much harder when I’m at home with the family to really train and concentrate on racing. Instead, when I’m at a training camp or at the races, I can focus just on racing my bike.

G4: So what do you eat to stay at racing weight?

PLB: I’m very lucky. Of course, I don’t eat wrong food like French fries but, even in winter, I can stay skinny. I eat typical athletes’ food: pasta, meat, salad, vegetables, and all sorts of healthy food. But I have to eat otherwise I lose my mental focus. Everybody says I’m lucky. I’ve ridden and shared a room with Fabio in the grand tours and he always asks how come I can eat so much food. He says if he ate the same he’d put on lots of kilos.

G4: Sadly, I too am in the Fabio Sabatini camp.

PLB: Also my wife complains I eat too much. She says when I’m home the fridge is always empty and she has to shop at least three times a week. I love being at home and coming home after training to find my wife’s car in the drive and my wife at home too. She works, she has a Pilates Studio.

G4: Your wife must be fit too?

PLB: She recently ran her first marathon in Washington in 3:35. I had thought she would do it in 3:50. It was very impressive. But she’s strong and very disciplined with her training.

G4: You must miss the family when you’re away training and racing?

PLB: I love being at home but I have to be away from home in order to do my job. When I’m away my wife often sends me videos of my daughters watching races on the television and shouting “Papa, Papa!” when they see me racing. The younger one just recognises the green kit rather than me and will shout “Papa”. I tell that it’s not me but she still shouts “Papa” so I just agree with her and say “Okay, that’s Daddy”.

G4: I can’t help feeling that those two little girls are also going to be top-level athletes. It’s in their genes!

Links: G4 on-line boutique, Part one, Part two G4 on Facebook