NICE (France) – «Everything has really changed – said a few days ago Andrea Agostini, number two of the UAE Team Emirates the only category that hasn't changed is that of journalists».
It was one of the phrases that the more it echoed in our heads during these long and frenetic days at the Tour de France, probably feeling called into question given our long membership in the group. The world has changed completely, the press rooms are full of new facesThere are a lot of super-technical guys at work, who had no experience whatsoever of cycling in the 90s or the period immediately after. There are very few Italians. Doing the math roughly, excluding the envoys of RAI Sports with the expert prying of Silvano Ploner, the 2024 Tour de France (in its French part) was followed by five Italian photographers and three journalists (3-4 more arrived for the last two stages). Everything else you have read, even in prestigious newspapers, has been prepared from home by calling or using the audio that the press officers send in the chats of the various teams.
No need to go to the races and spend money. Audio tickets are coming. Press conferences are online. If you're content to have everyone else's arguments, you've solved the problem.For some publishers and editors, it's a godsend. We sincerely hope the difference is noticeable.
Go to the races
It's not a good way to work. You have to follow the races, even if this has a cost and now that we work for ourselves we know this even betterBut it's only by looking the athlete, coach, or any other person in the eye that you can truly grasp the meaning of their words. Only by walking the streets and breathing the air can you grasp the meaning of their words. It's only by immersing yourself in the crowds around the buses that you understand the consensus of this or that champion. Having seen him at the Giro or in some Tour years ago isn't enough to tell the story of him today. It helps, but it's not enough.Every race has its own history, every era its own peculiarities.
Any self-respecting journalist, whoever writes first, would like to stay out every single day, but often his aspiration is shattered by the no of the administrations or, even worse, of the directors. Which certainly come from the years when cycling was less presentable than it is today. And the damage is done.
Memory that helps
There is, however, another nuance in Andrea Agostini's speech that we have reflected on at length. His sentence came out when talking about the ongoing suspicions about Pogacar's performances. It is a common opinion, shared by us, that the current anti-doping system, the biological passport and the Adams availability are an excellent deterrent to the unhealthy habits of the past.
The same words spoken yesterday by Pogacar in the press conference they give the feeling of a generation less inclined to compromiseMaybe because these guys prefer to think for themselves and not listen to the advice of those who were already there: in this case, it should be considered a good thing. Having spoken like this means that the guy has the right attitude, he's not afraid to put his face on the line and It's clear that he's annoyed at having to answer for the mistakes of people who were running when he wasn't even born yet..
But let's not forget that other generations of riders swore by their transparency, first and foremost His Majesty Lance Armstrong. Only to discover that it was all fake. Some chose not to see and ordered not to. Others tried and were blacklisted. For this reason Having journalists who remember this is not a bad thing at all. In fact, perhaps it's a necessity.We remember well when the Irishman David Walsh was blacklisted and marginalized by Armstrong himself and his associates, only to later win all the cases the American had dragged him into. It was he, in a way, the key to exposing the American team's doping program.
The case of Piccolo
Trust is an absolute value that must be earned and maintained. We applauded Pogacar because he seems to us a credible character, But we'd be failing in our work if we completely lowered our antennas and trusted only what we're told. This doesn't mean returning to a witch hunt or giving a two-sided interpretation of everything Tadej does from now on. There are already those who do that, and that's enough for us.
But it means observe, ask the extra question and look him in the eye while he answers. Research and study. And you can do this better if you're there; the screen is unreliable. Slovenian gives the impression of being above these issues: hurray for him, for cycling, for all of us. Unfortunately, the recent episode involving Andrea Piccolo makes it clear that evil is still in the minds of some athletes. Perhaps they were badly advised by figures from the past. Perhaps they were incapable of believing they could move forward on their own. Or perhaps they were dedicated to something else and convinced they'd found a way to make fewer sacrifices.
Tell me, don't be clever
In this world that has changed so much, are we really the only ones who haven't changed (perhaps in part)? Above all, there is a need for good journalists.: knowing them enriches us and we can guarantee that we have met many of them on the roads of the Tour, even very young ones, but animated by that special fire that you recognize if you have it on you. People willing to have no set hours, to work (if necessary) in the middle of the night and to drive hundreds of kilometers, to bring home an original story. Tell – said an old master, unfortunately unheard – don't be clever. For people like that bike.PRO There's always room. Those who rework their articles by copying, pasting, and resigning themselves to conformity, can continue on their way. But perhaps this world, which has changed so much, truly doesn't need them.
