Despite a few troubled seasons, with illnesses and other problems, Italian Giuseppe "Beppe" Montello has been a regular in the national team and has scored his first-ever BMW IBU World Cup top 30 last season in the sprint at Nove Mesto na Moravě. The 26-year-old from Forni Avoltri took us on a tour, quite literally, around his mountains with friend and training-mate Lisa Vittozzi for our “A Day in the Life of…”.

My day generally starts at around 6:45am, when I am home. I am the kind of person that needs to take his time in the morning, so I always get myself a good hour and a half between the alarm and the moment I leave for training. Usually, when I have long aerobic training sessions, my breakfast consists of porridge and fresh and dried fruits and today it was just like that.

My training for the day was one of my favourite: four hours of mountain-biking with Lisa. I drove my car up to Sappada, where I met her, then we went up to Val Visdende and all the way to Monte Zovo. It was the first time for me, actually, and the view was just breath-taking: such a superb panorama of the Dolomites! From the top of it, we cycled down to Rifugio De Doo, where we had a snack.

From there, we continued our descent on the trail of Costa’s, all the way down to San Pietro and finally we cycled back up to Sappada. It was a lovely tour and I recommend it to fans who come to our area.

As soon as I got home, I took a quick shower and then cooked myself lunch. I think those are the fastest showers I ever take, because I am just so hungry that I cannot wait to get myself some food. Today it was something easy and healthy: rice, chicken breast and veggies.

Once I am full and happy, I move to my sofa and wind down: as usual, I spent some time on Instagram and then I felt my eyes closing. With the early alarm and the long training, I always feel like a 30-minute power nap is something my body asks me. I must admit, I really enjoy coming back to my apartment after a training session, because I really worked hard to make it “my own place”. Together with an interior designer, NeferStudio by Alberto Vidale, I just finished it and I am extremely proud of it. It makes for a perfect place to relax, with its minimalistic style.

When I woke up, I prepared some coffee, a 4-person moka-pot to be precise, and then I went to my hometown shooting range to train with my dad on some still shooting and a little running. I am blessed to have a biathlon centre just a few minutes away by car: it is a fundamental support to my daily training and the fact that my dad used to coach the national team, up until a few years ago, gives me the chance to train with a high quality coach, even when I am not on a camp with the A team. The fact that he is my dad also helps a lot, because he knows me better than anyone else and his suggestions are always the most precious.

Another luxury of home training is that my apartment is some 100m away from my mum’s hotel: I take advantage of that more often and not and treat myself with a good dinner. Chief Giovanni always delights me with something special… but my cooking isn’t too shabby either. Whenever I feel like it or I invite some friends over, I do the cooking.

 I think that like every Italian, pasta is my favourite and my forte. I enjoy changing the sauce, but my most beloved is tuna and courgettes. I am also a fan of meat, especially grilled. I know it does not sound fancy, but if you can master the cooking it is just the best, for me.

This very day, I spent the evening chilling on the couch, so nothing spectacular, but during Summer I enjoy going out with friends and it’s not a crime if we have a beer every now and then. But for today, it's time to say good night!

Photos and Words by Giuseppe Montello