BRUGES (Belgium) – The girl at the reception of the hotel in Kortrijk greeted us with the regret of not being on the path of the Flanders together with the group of families and friends who have followed him since she was littleHe has to work, but he emphasizes that next Sunday he will be at the RoubaixThey'll see them at three points, and then, when the race is in the Carrefour de l'Arbre, they'll stop at a café to watch the finale. We think of her as we emerge from the parking lot in the center of Bruges, next to the team parking lot, pleased for the privilege of having a reserved seat at the centre of the stage.
The market square is a noisy and colorful stadiumThe spires of the buildings lend a touch of Gothic fairytale to the preliminaries of the great battle. The road leading from the parking lot is a deafening catwalk, where the riders are called by name, applauded, veneratedTo escort the big names to the signing, a steward service on electric scooters has been set up to show them the way. Alessandro Romele, debuting in his first year as a pro, he says he had chills and we imagine the same sensations when in the first breakaway he opened the way for the group to pass.
The fan's cure
Cycling and Belgium are one and the same. There is not a single detail that is not taken care of to the best.A huge square: this year Bruges, next year Antwerp. Merchandise and refreshment opportunities along the route. Shuttle services. Agencies that take you to various points to see them pass byBig screens everywhere. Flanders Sunday is a celebration in itself, but there is no WorldTour race that does not have a massive following. For the Ronde we stop. When we know that they will think about the show pogacar, Van der Poel, Pedersen, Ganna, Van Aert, la Kopecky, Wiebes, Van der Breggen, Longo Borghini, Niewiadoma and the others, it is understandable that the influx of spectators multiplies.
It's a pity that this banquet did not arrive on the tables of Italians, if not through paid television images (Eurosport's work is excellent anyway) and articles written by mixing together press releases by good journalists kept in the editorial offices, as if being up here wasn't worth the cost of the ticket. It has been said, read and commented on RAI which has not purchased the rights, but the absence of the daily newspapers must also be highlightedFor Pogacar's Flanders on Pedersen and Van der Poel, there were five Italian photographers and three journalists in Belgium. You might think: better, that way you'll get more visits. But no: If the system weakens, we all weaken, cycling first and foremost.
Football, nothing but football
If sport is a mirror of a country's culture, then In all of this we can trace the habits of an Italy dominated by the interests of a few to the detriment of others. Crushed in the sporting world by football and its massive debts, for which the government is being blackmailed, because if football ends, life ends. Are you really sure? The information is monothematic. He talks about two wars and hides the other hundred. He talks about tariffs to distract from the increases and new armaments. And you need a very rich buffet of games, pushing the rest to the bottom of the list and legitimizing those who read the newspaper from the endThe public, like children, should be educated.
Sending an envoy to Flanders does not mean damaging football, it means increasing sports culture which paradoxically would also make the public of other sports richer and more knowledgeable. It means having a strong dish to offer and not just a simple artifice of wordsInstead, we insist on a single direction, and nothing else matters. If we then ask ourselves why companies don't invest elsewhere, perhaps we've just found the answer.
Equal opportunities
Flanders offers the men's and women's races on the same day, like Sanremo. Separate departures, both treated with equal emphasis and deployment of force: the first from Bruges, the second from Oudenaarde. If we want to find a flaw, it is in having forced us to start work at 19,30pm to wait for the women's arrival and only let the men's winner speak afterwardsFor the rest, a gigantism prevailed that gave cycling an almost sacred image. A very different thing from the miniaturization of our home, made up of a square as beautiful as a wedding favor, but small and suffocated by VIP hospitality. A low stage, invisible from the rear, and that feeling of having to get out of the way quickly, so as not to disturb anyone. La Milan-Sanremo should return to the center of Milan, with the Duomo in the background and politics should push for this to happen. Cycling has a history to reclaim, but It gets tough if the first to turn their backs on it are those who should be telling it and maybe even selling it.
While we are busy with so much speculation, we are assailed by the doubt of having lingered too long in victimhoodMaybe it's like this in Belgium, we tell ourselves, because they have Van Aert, and Van der Poel was born just across the border. Maybe because they don't have other sports to glorify. That must be why, we tell ourselves. And while we are now convinced of this, we open L'Equipe and remain open-mouthed.The first page for Pogacar, from head to toe. The next five for Flanders, and yet the French have not won a Tour of Flanders since 1992 (with Jacky Durand) and they don't have anyone on the horizon who promises to do it. The great spectacle of sport has no flag and does not necessarily require an entrance feeNo fan card required to attend the match RondeTickets for VIP areas only. For the rest, all you needed was a few beers and a strong desire to see a fantastic show.
