Philippe Gilbert will turn 40 on July 5th and yesterday, after two and a half years without results (the last time was in the 2019 Vuelta), he returned to victoryThe occasion was the Four Days of Dunkirk, in which the valley of the Lotto Soudal He won the Mont Saint Eloi stage, a sort of mini-Liège, on Thursday and the final classification yesterday.
“It makes me really happy,” Gilbert said, in the opening photo. News I've had two difficult years with many problems and hard times (The double knee fracture wasn't easy to recover from, ed.) But I want to end my career at the highest level. I never forgot what it takes to be at the topThe Classics were difficult for me, because for health reasons I was never able to train as planned. This time, with better weather and in a shorter race, I managed to get the victory. Thanks also to the team, which was great. Therefore, First I'm getting married, at the end of the month. Then I'm very ambitious for the following races.. I want to win some more."
Belgian abundance
It will be that in Belgium they have Van Aert and evenepoel (plus a handful of other excellent riders), when on the eve of Liège we found ourselves with Gilbert talking about the his last Doyenne, the feeling was of being in front of a great champion from whom no one would have dreamed of asking more than he could giveA legend. One to be thanked for. One before whom, like Valverde, the young riders almost bowed at the start of Liège. And in the comments from fans on social media, gratitude for the great emotions clearly prevailed over envy. A sign of balance and respect.
As in Spain, where even though we have to wait for Ayuso and Rodriguez to blossom, Nobody is dreaming of sending Valverde to trial because he didn't win the Liège. And meanwhile Alejandro continues to run lightly with a free spirit, in the spirit of his favorite advice: disfrutar bicicleta, enjoy the bicycle.
Nibali's choice
At the start of a stage of the Coppi and Bartali Week, on a slightly lazy and finally warm morning in Riccione, we found ourselves talking with Vincenzo Nibali.
Simone Carpanini had just given him a short interview (you can still find the video on our Facebook page) and so talking to him about this and that, the typical phrase that slipped out when you don't want to wake up from a good dream.
«I don't know if this is really your last year, but Given how you are feeling and the feeling that you still enjoy cycling, you might even consider hanging it up.».
Nibali remained silent. It got serious. And then he answered.
“You're right,” he said. sometimes I think about it too and maybe I would consider itThe problem is that I can't live it as I would like, because every time it turns out that I have to win the Giro and Every time you put pressure on me that is harder to bear year after year».
The void behind
He is right. Maybe the champion puts some pressure on himself too., but in Italy which does not have Van Aert and Evenepoel, which has a handful of excellent riders scattered across foreign teams and does not have a great team in which to raise them, Clinging to the saint's mantle is what we do best. With great expectations, great titles, little balance, and at times even little respect. Let's leave gratitude aside....
Yet, when the speaker from Liège started announcing it in French, the fingers of two hands were not enough to keep track of the palmares. In his ostentatious French, The speaker started with the two Giro d'Italias. Then he included the Tour de France. He added the Vuelta.And then he set the two Lombardy championships, the two Italian championships, to the rhythm of a seasoned DJ. And in the end, as a consummate actor, he also put the Sanremo Festival on the tableHow dare you point the finger?
The wrong formula
As I've written on several occasions, it's the Italian formula that doesn't work. Talents are born and, like brains, are forced to leave.There are no alternatives. And those who could actually offer them suffer from the already mentioned bulimiaThey eat and throw away.
So, after seeing Gilbert win and waiting for Nibali to find a way to make his class shine, We wonder whether the Federation actually has the capacity to stop the drift and whether Cassani is really on the verge of announcing his teamWhile Eolo-Kometa is growing convincingly, Drone Hopper-Androni is playing its usual reliable role and Bardiani-Csf has been grinding out riders like peanuts for a few years now, Having nothing else, we too cling to the saint's cloakThe Shark one. And that of San Davide da Solarolo, put away too hastily, despite the good he has achieved and could still have achieved.
