There was a real need for an initiative like this. Let's hope it can be implemented in a strong way in our area too. It's a project that can create jobs and we know very well how rare this is these days.We are talking about "Machining meets cycling by Ceratizite”, an idea that the large multinational – active in cycling with a team and the sponsorship of several races – had in 2019 and which this year has also been exported to Italy.
Ceratizite is a Hightech Engineering group, specialized in chip removal tools and special carbide solutions. Its catalog includes 100.000 different products, has received 20 innovation awards since 2002, has 30 production sites, and holds over 1.000 patents.
What this initiative consists of is quickly explained: through the promotion of the values of sport and cycling in particular, Ceratizit creates a link between companies linked to its world and cycling clubs and cycling schools, offering the possibility of professional training in cycling mechanicsIn this way, a young person, while continuing to practice cycling, can also see their passion for the sport as a vehicle for finding a career. They can think about a long-term future in the sector, even beyond a potential sporting career, which, we know, is likely to be very short-lived.
U23 athlete wanted…
The project, which after Spain and Italy should also be developed in other countries, involves meetings between companies and firms. In Italy in 2021, Cicli Fiorin visited Ceratizit's Italian headquarters, then there were theErba Spa , Sc Gazzanighese, while a second meeting is taking place right now, between the Pmp srl , Cycling School Cene, always in the Bergamo area. During these meetings, the students visit the company's facilities and the various production stages. Then we discuss the main values of cycling (responsibility, discipline, sacrifice, belonging to the team) and how these are common both in sports and in working life.
In Italy, where the initiative's testimonial is Maria Giulia Confalonieri, since last April Roberta Ceppi, former head of the federal press office, is in charge of the project, I was sincerely surprised above all by the interest that so many young people showed towards the idea of looking at cycling in a different way than a strictly competitive one.
«The immediate objective – he explains – is to find an athlete under 23 who wants to continue his cycling activity, but at the same time begin professional trainingThe target of Ceratizit's idea, which of course approached this project within a promotional and marketing framework, is identified in the young people aged 14 to 18, but there is a concrete possibility of expanding this user base and it is our objective to do so».
A first meeting took place between Ceratizit Italia in Cinisello Balsamo and Cicli Fiorin The meetings include a tour of the factory and a theoretical part reserved for the kids
A first meeting took place between Ceratizit Italia in Cinisello Balsamo and Cicli Fiorin The meetings include a tour of the factory and a theoretical part reserved for the kids
An opportunity for the future
As mentioned, the project started in Spain, where Ceratizit relied on the development of Kirolife, a company founded by Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano, a professional until 2005, bronze at the World Time Trial Championships in 2002 and yellow jersey for a week at the Tour. The Basque embraced this idea wholeheartedly, identifying it as a great opportunity for many young people.
«When I became pro – he told us – for me it was It was very important to continue my studies because I wanted an open career even after sport.About ten years ago, when I hung up my bike, I knew I had a future ahead of me and lots of ideas.
«In our world, to give an example, the figure of the qualified mechanic is fundamentalThere aren't that many of them, and it's important to think of this as another opportunity to live in this environment. Not everyone will be able to make it to the professional ranks, and we need to be aware of that. So what we can offer is an opportunity to experience cycling not only as victories and defeats, as training and competitions, but also as something bigger».
The large Cicli Fiorin group at Ceratizit The boys from Sc Gazzanighese present at the Erba Spa headquarters The Cene Cycling School, including MTB and paracycling champions and Johnny Carera
The large Cicli Fiorin group at Ceratizit The boys from Sc Gazzanighese present at the Erba Spa headquarters The Cene Cycling School, including MTB and paracycling champions and Johnny Carera
Professionalism is for the few…
The initiative was born in 2019 and therefore risked being stopped by the long period of the pandemicHow did you get by during those long months without the ability to travel, contact companies directly, and essentially live on a half-time basis?
«We continued to work – replies the Iberian – expanding our knowledge and user base during the summer months, to make us ready when it's time to leave again."
In his analysis, Gonzalez de Galdeano often draws on his own experience and, by comparing it with current cycling, also picks up insights that give greater strength to carry forward the project.
«I look at current cycling – he says – made up of great champions who are above all leaders of themselvesIt's a very changed cycling, in which Team values still exist, but not as they were in our time. And I do not hide that in this cycling, which I also attended in a different way (the Basque rider was also team manager of the Euskaltel Euskadi, ed.) I don't find myself in it. I am convinced that it is important to push our shared concepts, to give a chance to many kids and not just the most talented ones. Professional cycling remains and will always be for the fewWe address them with an idea summarized in a simple thought: the future is in your hands, join us. This is the basic slogan of the initiative."
Not a company, but a family…
The program is developing rapidly. Ceratizit is also preparing a larger-scale event, from October 7th to 9th in Valtellina. There, the theoretical part will be held and the project will be disseminated to the many local companies, but also sharing through a ride.
On the other hand, an important step for the multinational is to involve the largest possible number of companies in this opportunity, but also, on the other hand, an increasingly large number of sports clubs and young people.
«During the first meeting at Erba Spa – Roberta Ceppi recalls – At the end of the tour of the factory and the discussion, a boy said: "But it's beautiful here, more than a company it seems like a family"President Gianiosep Erba, a former rider, was moved by those words. "It confirms that the project is working; we're confident that this way we can offer professional opportunities to many enthusiastic young people."
In practice what Ceratizit and its “operational arm” Kirolife do is connect two different entities to create work. A bit like what the famous "navigators" should have done. Only here we're no longer speaking in the conditional, but in the present indicative...
