PARIS (France) – The first Italian medal of the Paris Games It comes from cycling. Filippo Ganna conquers the time trial and it is also the first Italian podium since 1996, that is, since the race against time entered the Olympic program.
"But it doesn't weigh as much as gold," Pippo says immediately without hiding. And' was the author of a great performance, at 53.331 km/hBut once again the Belgian did more and finished 25 seconds ahead, slowing slightly towards the end. And right in the final Ganna built his silver, putting himself behind Van Aert and repelling the attack of an unfortunate Tarling due to a fall (Ganna also risked it), but who is already projected into the future. And the first to know it is Filippo himself. "Tomorrow is his, theor I'm starting to go towards 30, perhaps this was the last chance to win Olympic gold."
Half full and half empty
It's a glass half full and half empty, but still half. He had declared that he would leave without regrets. Is it so?
«I couldn't do more than this. Regret is the color of the medalI defended myself, I brought home a medal. But as an Italian It's a bit like seeing Ferrari when it comes in second: it eats away at youIn the end, I found the motivation to push as hard as I did at the start; my performance was in line with my values. I'm not a dragon in the rain, but I gave it my all. It wasn't enough, I took almost half a second per kilometer and that burns».
Van Aert's irony
With Evenepoel, it's an endless battle, but one that almost always has the same winner. "He's a phenomenon, a great champion. We knew it well on the podium, with Van Aert. He told me: "I know what it means come second"Then we laughed about it, trying to take a selfie on the podium, but it didn't work. We were too tired."
Speaking of tiredness, it was said that Evenepoel could be tired after the Tour. He certainly wasn't tired of winning. He was the most consistent in this time trial, where Tarling suffered a puncture, Van Aert dropped off in the final stages, and Ganna had a slip-up due to a skid. What happened?
I'll think about it again. I'll see her again. I knew that point was dangerous, I needed to take it a little better. At the end I said to myself: “Philip, you've been waiting too long, you can't sit down now.”. And I found this medal, which I'm sorry is not gold. I struggled so much, I had to throw away the visor because I couldn't even see the handlebars anymore.I had to decide whether to go ashore or see the road."
Apologies to Mattarella
Now it's no longer time to see the road, but the track. And for a while it's no longer time to see Paris.Tomorrow I'll be back on the track in Montichiari with my teammates and I'll try to give Italy another piece of joy. I know the boys were there watching me on the big screen, now I'm ready to join them. The day after tomorrow I'll be with them again."
There will be no problems with the route or rain on the track. "In the end, this was an intermediate race," Ganna continues, "neither too long nor too short. We'll never know how it would have gone with the sun, there's no point in askingI tried to push until the end, I don't know how I was in the rankings after the skid. I almost lost my mind, but I kept going and finished second."
At that moment he thought about why, when asked to whom he dedicates the medal, he confidently answers: "To myself." Because "Everyone sees the 36 minutes of the game, but not the work that goes into it.. Only I know that. And I couldn't let it go to waste."
At the finish line he found the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella, who complimented him. "I told him that I was sorry to make him wait in the rain, but the starting order was that and I was the second to last». Before Evenepoel, who once again arrived before him.
Velo's analysis
The analysis by technical commissioner Marco Velo is also mixed: «Filippo has shown himself to be a champion, overturning a situation that could have seen us exit the podiumHe gave us a splendid medal, the first for Italy in these Games. The blunder? I didn't notice, I heard the whole car scream, I saw him practically on the groundThen I saw how good he was at staying on his feet. If he does that a hundred more times, he'll fall a hundred and twenty. I told him to reset and refocus and he did so.The route? Mostly the rain.
«An athlete with Goofy's physique struggles to relaunch after corners in the wet. It's like relaunching a truck versus a car. Anyway, he achieved impressive numbers, no doubt about it. It's a great podium, it stings, but we know we did everything 100%."
Eighteenth Alberto Bettiol, which he did not force, thinking about the road test. Where Elisa Longo Borghini, eighth in the race won by Brown, will also seek redemption on Henderson and an unfortunate Dygert, affected by a bad fall.
