"It's all thanks to you" shouts the boy from the blue dream quartet Jonathan Milan. His finger points to Marco Villa, the track coach who performed another miracle, sending the pursuit team into the Olympic final at the Izu Velodrome, where tomorrow (synchronize your watches: 11:06 a.m.) we will challenge the Danish giants for gold. Was a thrilling Italy the one that beat New Zealand in a photo finish in the first round (that is, a sort of semi-final) by the mere margin of 0”090. And by the same margin, the Azzurri have written their name in the book of records, achieving the new world record in 3'42”307.
Lamon and Consonni
The launch of the Francis Lamon, then the baton passed to Simone Consonni which in turn left room for Jonathan MilanThe New Zealanders make us suffer, they get to half a second ahead. But at that point The Azzurri play the wild card, showing off the Locomotiva di VerbaniaFilippo Ganna puts the turbo on and drags along with him what remains of Italy, Consonni and Milan who burn their rivals in a sprint and now they dream big.
Top Ganna
When he arrives in the mixed zone, Top Ganna smiles and declares: «Today we arrived with good legs and the boys have shown that the work done over the years has really led to many things, to many emotions. More than once, we've taken it to that place and everything comes back sooner or laterIn our group there is one who has already won an important medal (Elia Viviani, gold at Rio 2016 in the omnium, ed.) and he knows what it means to win it and I want to share it with the others. I tell them to hold out for 24 hours, then if they want they can get drunk and I'll be the first to accompany them».
Consonni first takes a walk to vent his emotions Then he stops and receives a hug from the team, but the tension must be kept high.
Consonni first takes a walk to vent his emotions Then he stops and receives a hug from the team, but the tension must be kept high.
Elijah Factor
The importance of having an Olympic champion in the group, as well as the first flag-bearer cyclist in the history of the Italian national team, is an added value, as confirmed by those who know him best, his teammate at Cofidis, Simone Consonni: «Certainly, the one who triggered this attention for the track is Elia. It is thanks to him that all of Italy looks at us and we feel the warmth of the people., so we hope we have given you some emotions today too."
Milan's future
Capitan Top Ganna thanks his teammates for the record-breaking performance: «Laughing and joking, we were supposed to start at 13.6 seconds, while on the second lap we were at 13.3 seconds. So I said, “Okay guys, do what you want, we're there now.” I want to say thank you to everyone, from the one who started and had never done it so strong (Lamon), to the one who was the second man and immediately brought us "in the table" (Consonni) and then also to a tall and young man who could be the future of track cycling and beyond, because he also knows how to defend himself on the road».
Farewell Berlin
The final reference is to Milan, who will only turn 21 in October and is already on the Olympic podium. Not even the player himself can believe it: "It's an indescribable feeling, it's all new, I struggle to realize where I am. Compared to the bronze medal in Berlin 2020, it's a lot more than that."
You try it yourself
Words almost fail him and Lamon also nods, but leaves the floor to Consonni: «We started immediately with a high table, because we knew it was a challenging semi-final, in practice it was a "finale" for both of themWe were on the table and then we knew we had the extra man in Filippo, who makes us make the difference in the end and it showed today too. Well done to me and Milan for following suit, because it's not easy. If you don't believe it, try it.».
Milan receives a high five from manager Villa: the Friulian is flying Milan and Ganna are two authentic locomotives in the Italian train
Milan receives a high five from manager Villa: the Friulian is flying Milan and Ganna are two authentic locomotives in the Italian train
In the name of Villa
Top Ganna is going so fast that his opponents try to stop him in every way, but the Verbanese replies in his own way: «There are nations that They said my handlebars weren't approved, even though they are UCI approved.I could have even raced with the guy in the points race. Come on, I don't want to be boastful, but they wanted to put a spoke in our wheels."
It didn't work and now there's the last step to climb: «As I said before the semi-final, we have to compete against ourselves and follow a person on the side of the track with a tablet in whom we blindly believeIf we do it to the letter, we have seen what we can do. Tomorrow Marco Villa will always be our beacon and we will try to entertain Italy».
With these premises, take an hour off tomorrow morning because there's a final that can make our boys legendary. Your cheering will be heard even thousands of miles away and it will be the turbo for the final laps that will elect the Olympic champion quartet.
