Friday, March 29, 2024

Aldo Ino Ilešič – on UHC’s Cosmopolitan Race Schedule

-

HomeInterviewsAldo Ino Ilešič - on UHC’s Cosmopolitan Race Schedule
Aldo Ilesic
Aldo Ilesic.

It was 2009 the Tour of Ireland when I first spoke to big Slovenian Aldo Ino Ilešič; but the rolling Emerald Isle countryside didn’t really suit his ‘brick built out house’ sprinter’s build.

The tall man from Ptuj had first caught the eye in 2003 with a stage win in the Tour de Slovenia.

In 2004 he turned pro with well respected Slovenian team Perutnina Ptuj and took a stage in the super fast Olympia Tour of Holland.

The following season, a stage win in the Paths of King Nikola stage race in Croatia was the high light.

The top class Italian U23 Giro delle Regione gave him a stage win in 2006; but it was 2008 when he really found his feet – with eight wins, from Croatia to Charlotte, North Carolina in the colours of Slovenian squad, Slava.

And it was 2009 when he turned pro with Team Type 1 and rode in Ireland.

The following season a slimmed-down Aldo grabbed three stage wins in the Tour of Morocco plus a stage win in the Vuelta Telmex in Mexico and then two stages in the Tour do Rio in Brazil.

In 2011 TT1 went Pro Continental and the level of races and travel commitments were higher – despite this, Ilešič had a solid season which he kicked off with two top ten placings in the early season Etoile des Besseges in France.

Season 2012 saw him drop into the role he was perhaps designed for all along – lead out man.

Along the way he took three major wins for himself, was second in Philadelphia Classic – the best known and largest one day race in the USA – and was instrumental in many of TT1’s wins on the UCI circuit all over the world.

Last year he again played the team role but for United Healthcare, after TT1 decided their future lay with a team where all the athletes were diabetic.

But despite all the hard work for others, he managed a big wing along the way in the USA’s longest – and one of the most prestigious – criteriums; the US Air Force Clarendon Cup.

His 2014 season started in the desert and we thought it would be good to hear ‘from the horse’s mouth’ what the Tours of Qatar and Oman are really like – and how he copes with UHC’s cosmopolitan race schedule.

Aldo Ilešič
Aldo feels that kicking off the season in the far east is not a bad thing.

Your first time in the desert, Aldo?

“Yes: it’s interesting racing and I think every professional rider should experience it at least once during their career.

“You think you know the wind from racing in Belgium in The Netherlands; but when you go there it’s completely different because you head in one direction for maybe 50 or 60 K out across the desert and the group you start in is the group you finish in.

“Position is everything; you’re flying even in the neutralised zone.”

What about that 56 kph stage?

“That was the third stage and the first stage where I started to feel better; I put in a good winter but went down with flu just before Qatar – I was in bed and just empty.

“I had two flats that day but still finished in the second group, just a couple of minutes down, I was in the 11 and 12 sprockets all day.”

Aldo Ilešič
Aldo loves to be a player in his races. Photo©ChasingLightMedia

You made the break on one stage.

“Not in Qatar but I did in Oman; you have to be realistic, our goal was to race aggressively and to get noticed, we were battling for our place in Paris-Roubaix – which we’ve since had confirmed – at that time and we wanted to show in front of the cameras.

“I was in the break one day and whilst you know you’ve no chance of staying away you have to be out there getting noticed.”

That Green Mountain stage in Oman looked pretty tough.

“To tell you the truth, the day before where Sagan won was harder.

“On the Green Mountain stage it’s just a waiting game until the climbers do their stuff – then you just settle in to the gruppetto and ride to the finish.

“But on the Sagan stage there were three/four K climbs and a lot of head winds – that was a tough day.”

What was UHC’s best result?

“We had Robert Forster fourth on stage two in Oman; the team is happy with how it went.

“You have to be realistic, you have the best Classics and Grand Tour guys in the world there but we were in the race, participating, not just sitting in the wheels.”

I’ve heard the race hotels are nice?

“They’re super-nice! And the organisation is very good, too.

“In Oman we were staying in a beach resort hotel; after every stage we jumped in the sea then had our massage – perfect!”

Qatar is an early start to your season, isn’t it?

“Yeah, you have to be ready – half the guys are really ready to race and the other half are thinking; “well, let’s get started…

“You have to be aware all the time, positioning is vital, you have to be in the right place from the start; even if you’re name is Tom Boonen if you miss that front group there’s no getting up to it in the crosswinds.”

Aldo Ilešič
Aldo looking forward to the ‘real’ races still to come.

How was your winter in Slovenia?

“I was really lucky, the weather was good and stable, 10/12 degrees then I went to the team training camp in Tucson in January.

“I’m back home just now and it’s 15/20 degrees – incredibly good.

“There was only one bad week all winter and that was when I was in Tucson; so the winter has been perfect for me.”

Then after the Middle East there was Taiwan.

“It was a good race for us, Luke Keogh won stage one then we had John Murphy third on stage three. I’ve done a lot of racing in Asia now and it’s really aggressive – it goes from the gun just like in Belgium.

“And I’d say that the Tour of Taiwan is one of the best organised races in Asia.

“I was in the breakaway twice; one stage I was caught just 300 metres from the line and then on another I was going for king of the mountains points but again was caught just 200 metres short of the line.

“But like I say, it was a good race for us; we got a lot of publicity from it.”

Don’t you have to watch the food?

“It’s not so much the food as the water – the hotel food is always pretty much the same, rice and pasta with meat or chicken but you have to be careful of the salads and vegetables because of the water they’re washed in.

“It’s the same when you brush your teeth; you use bottled water – and you avoid beef, our team doctor warned us about that.”

Isn’t all that travel hard on the system?

“That’s a good question – and the answer is ‘yes.’

“It usually takes me around a week to 10 days to recover from coming back from somewhere like Taiwan.

“I find my legs are OK in three or four days but my heart rate takes another seven days to get back to normal.

“Usually I recover from a stage race in three or four days but you have to double that or even treble it if it’s a long haul flight through a lot of time zones.

“There are no rules to recovery in these situations – you just have to know your body and listen to it.”

And I believe you have a ‘real’ race programme coming up?

“Yeah, ‘real’ is the word – Waregem, E3, De Panne, Scheldeprijs and Paris-Roubaix.

“I’m really excited about riding Paris-Roubaix; it’s part of cycling history and I’m going to be part of that…”

Aldo will be speaking to us again after The Hell of the North; meanwhile we wish him ‘all the best’ for all those Flanders bergs, cobbles and cross winds.

Ed Hood
Ed Hood
Ed's been involved in cycling for over 50 years. In that time he's been a successful time triallist, a team manager and a sponsor of several teams and clubs. He's also a respected and successful coach and during the winter months was often working in the cabins at the Six Days for some of the world's top riders. Ed remains a massive fan of the sport and couples his extensive contacts with an inexhaustible enthusiasm for the minutiae and the history of our sport. In February 2023 however, our dear friend and beloved colleague Ed suffered a devastating stroke and faces an uncertain future; Ed has lost his ability to speak, to read, and has lost movement on the right side of his body. He's working with speech and physical therapists on rehabilitation, but all strokes are different and each patient responds differently, so unfortunately recovery is one day at a time. Ed ran his own business installing windows, and will probably not be able to work again. Please consider joining us to make a contribution to Ed's GoFundMe page to help stabilise and secure his future.

Related Articles

Jack Carlin – Two Silvers at the World Championships!

It was December when we last spoke to Paisley’s fastest man, Jack Carlin about his hopes for the forthcoming Commonwealth Games in Australia – that was before a successful British Track Championship where he came away as Sprint Champion then an excellent Worlds campaign which saw him land two silver medals.

Harry Tanfield – A Strong Start to the Season

It was 2013 when Harry Tanfield (Pedal Heaven) first came into our sights, winning the Dave Campbell Memorial Road Race in the Kingdom of Fife. We ran a full interview with him 2014 when our man with his finger on the Flemish pulse, Viktor noted that young Mr. Tanfield had been ‘doing the biz’ in the kermises. And it’s time for another chat with the 21 year-old from Middlesbrough after he repeated his 2013 Dave Campbell victory on the tough roads of Central Fife at the weekend. We caught up with him the day after his win.

James McCallum – Too Strong for the Rest at the Rosneath Super Six

'Man in Black' James McCallum (Rapha Condor Sharp) was too strong for the rest in the second round of the Super Six at Rosneath on Sunday, showing the full field of 80 how it should be done when you're a full time bike rider. The former British criterium champion outsprinted Liam Cowie (Endura/Pedal Power Development Team) and Rob Wilkins to take the honours.

Mark McNally – Tour of Britain 2014 KoM; “I don’t do this for the money”

There was an unexpected but nice result recently from a man who’s better known as a Flanders flat lands protagonist, AN Posts’s Mark McNally - his winning the King of the Mountains in the Tour of Britain. With the Vuelta dominating and the Tour of Britain news more focussed on what Cav didn’t do; Alex Dowsett’s brilliant ride to grab – but subsequently lose - yellow; and Wiggins’ fast - but not fast enough - time trial, McNally’s ride was over shadowed.

At Random

Ride London 2016 Goes to Tom Boonen

The worst thing about going to the Tour? Coming back. ‘Cold turkey’ is tough – Dave and I used to go to a kermis on the Monday after the Tour finished to ease our ‘crash.’ And last year Callum and I went to the post Tour crit in Aalst. Not this year however because we flew home from Geneva. But our man Callum found another solution; he got himself down to the ‘Ride London’ race; whilst we had to watch it on TV – with no coverage of the crucial last few K. But Callum let us have some pictures - we hope you like them.

Le Tour de France 2015 – Stages 16, 17, 18 and the Second Rest Day

Ca va, ca va! Friday, en route the Stage 19 start and it's been hectic. We arrived on Sunday afternoon but by the time we got to Valance, the Press Centre was closed - so it was 'Plan B,' go to the finish at Gap the next day and uplift them. Vital bits of plastic duly collected on Monday morning we headed off up the Col de Manse which is just behind Gap for Stage 16.

Christopher Macic – “I have to give it 100% this year”

A few years ago, Vik and I were hanging over the barriers at a Friday night kermis near Gent; ex-pro Tony Bracke was Hoovering up the primes but one of the Kingsnorth Wheelers guys was catching our eye, Christopher Macic.

Le Tour de France starts tomorrow! Who do we fancy?

Like it or not, the sport of professional cycle racing is largely defined by one race – the Tour de France. To aficionados the Primavera, Ronde, Hell of the North and Classic of the Falling Leaves are eagerly awaited then devoured and endlessly analysed. But mention any of these races to the ‘man in the street’ and you’ll be met with a blank stare. The Giro and Vuelta will elicit a similar response - Paris-Nice? Forget it. But tell a ‘lay person’ you’re going to the Tour de France and in response you’ll get; ‘Lance, Cav, yellow jersey’ – and ‘drugs,’ naturally.