Absence of Six-Day riders' main event means that Swiss Six-Day king will sit out next year’s Olympic Games
Franco Marvulli has become one of the legends of the European Six-Days circuit. Despite the retirement of long-standing race partner Bruno Risi last year, the Swiss racer has gone on to take several more top results with a variety of new teammates.
VeloNation caught up with Marvulli in the early part of his winter season to discuss his current season, and why he won’t be appearing at his fourth Olympic Games next summer.
“I’ve done two six-days so far [6 Giorni delle Rose and Grenoble – ed] and I’ve been second two times. I’ve had better seasons before but… we’ll see what the future brings in my home six-days in Zurich.”
After we spoke to Marvulli he went on to finish fifth in Gent, with Christian Grasmann. Teaming up with Iljo Keisse – who was ineligible to race on his home track in Gent – though, Marvulli managed to take victory in the Zurich event, which had been reduced to four days because of financial difficulties.
Despite the rise in form, just as the Six-Days season really gets going, Marvulli has virtually discounted the possibility of appearing on the board of London at the Olympic Games next summer.
“I don’t think so,” he said. “There will be a team at the Olympic Games but I don’t think I’m going to be a part of it. Our team pursuit team will not qualify for that, and I was injured and sick last year during the qualifications for the Olympics, so I missed a lot of points and opportunities; there’s no chance to get all these points back now.
“There are guys like Ed Clancy who have so many more points already in the qualification, that it’s impossible,” he added. “There’s only eight European riders that can go to the Olympics, and right now I’m position twenty or something…
It’s not just his missing out on possible qualification that has caused Marvulli to write off his chances of a fourth appearance at the Olympic Games. The change in the Olympic programme – announced by the International Cycling Union (UCI) back in December 2009 – means that specialists like the Swiss rider won’t be able to compete in their favourite event.
It was the removal of the Individual Pursuit from the London Games that made the headlines two years ago, but the loss of the Madison – the bread and butter event for Six-Day riders – is what means that much of the cream of European track cycling will not be represented at the 2012 Olympics.
“I have to be realistic,” said Marvulli. “The Olympic Games are an event that is beautiful; I experienced it three times already; I won a medal at the Olympics [the silver in the Madison at Athens 2004 – ed]. But the Olympics is really only fun if you go there and really challenge for a medal. If you don’t have a chance you go back into fifth or sixth place; I think, with all the work you do, there’s no point.”
The Madison and Individual Pursuit were removed – along with the points race – as part of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) demand that cycling equalise the events between the sexes – but crucially allowed for no more medals.
In place of the original individual endurance events, the Omnium was introduced, supposedly to appeal to the all-round skills of the Six-Day riders. Things have not worked out that way though, with the event at international level being dominated by sprinters and pursuiters.
The Six-Day men like Marvulli, with their handslings and sometimes-hard-to-follow races, were left out in the cold.
“Of course, for us that was the big solution,” he said. “Because it was a bit more than two years before the Olympics that they just took the Madison out. It’s kind of like someone takes your job away and says ‘just do something else’. It’s just frustrating because you love it, I always loved the Madison, it was my life, you know.”
Like the Kilometre Time Trial, which was removed from the Olympics ahead of Beijing to make way for BMX, the Madison is finding itself a poorer cousin to those that have the prospect of the lustre of Olympic gold.
“Now it’s not Olympic any more, it takes away a lot of the attention as well,” Marvulli reasoned. “For us, of course, it was difficult financially to have the same level as we had before.”
As a fulltime track rider Marvulli also periodically takes part in the World Cup events, in order to qualify for the World championships – where he would hope to add to his total of three rainbow jerseys. The way that the calendar has fallen this year has made this more complicated than usual for the Swiss rider though.
“We’ll see,” he said. “I was supposed to do the World Cup in Cali, but it was together with the Zurich Six-Days; I’m supposed to do the World Cup in China in January, but now they’ve moved that to the week before, and I have a six-days [in Bremen, Germany – ed].
“I think if I do a World Cup this year it’s going to be London,” he added. “We’ll see, I said to my national coach that I only want to do it if I’m really, really in shape; if I’m really better than the young guys. I don’t want to take the opportunity away from them; me, I’ve experienced it; I was World champion before – more than once.
“Like the British team, we have a really good generation coming up; plenty that are younger than me – twelve years younger – and they should get their chance as well.”