A difficult retirement to accept for Federico Pellegrino, who cared a lot about the two days of Val di Fiemme, with the aim of finishing as high as possible in the final ranking of the Tour de Ski. The Aosta Valley native had suffered in the first races, thanks to a not excellent condition, gritted his teeth until he improved his form and got involved in the general classification of the competition.
Pellegrino had invited the Val di Fiemme public and couldn’t wait to gather the warmth of his fans, but unfortunately he was forced to give up after trying until the end. «After breakfast I started to feel unwell in my stomach – said the Fiamme Oro champion – I tried to resist and try to get on track as planned. I started warming up, but after a few minutes I realized that it wasn’t even possible to try to have my say.”
For Pellegrino it is a difficult lump sum to accept: «I am very disappointed because I wanted so much to finish this Tour de Ski well. After suffering in the first races, I arrived at Davos, got the podium in the sprint and did well in the other race, I was ready to give my best here in Val di Fiemme. I feel sorry for the fans, the organizers and the technicians who always work so hard. For me it is a blow that will take time to absorb physically and psychologically. Now let’s think about recovering, because I’m still very weak.”
One of the things we most respect about Pellegrino, beyond his great talent and infinite determination, is his great ability to transform disappointment into motivation. So get ready because next year the blue will certainly want to be the protagonist in Val di Fiemme.
