When Fornaciari got in front, the speed went crazy and the group behind stopped talking. Today, he makes ice cream, Paolo puts the same determination into his days. That's why, when we talk late at night, he has the same tone as in the evenings in the hotel lobby telling us how the stage went. That's how it used to be. And this time he... it took a long time because at a certain point it ran out of milk and he had to go to Esselunga to find it.
"I was all day chasing the group with the 53×11 – jokes Fornaciari – but now I'm back. The first warm weather is coming, people want ice cream. But we we also worked during the lockdownOn March 8th, we started delivering the trays to customers' homes, and those customers came back. We were delivering up to 100 a day for an extra 5 euros. With coolers, ice, and everything else. Because I rode my bike and with all the effort I was making, it wasn't those kilometers that scared me.But now I don't pedal anymore. Last year I did a total of 210 kilometers, in just one day.A friend came to me and suggested it, so I told him I'd decide the route. We left at six in the morning and returned at five in the afternoon. Montecatini, Lucca, Massa, Versilia, Pisa, and then home. I didn't take mine Wilier for 11 years and when I came back, I took off the wheels and put it back on the closetMy saddle sore for a few days…».
The bike is a parenthesis
Paolo laughs and talks, he always has. From when he was an amateur until his transition in 1992 and then for his entire career, which ended in 2008 with only one personal victory but with amazing successes for his captainsHe has a big voice and his way of telling things makes you think of having lived some truly special years togetherHe says he plays tennis with some 20-year-olds who, after a while, can't take it anymore. He says he's 10 kilos heavier than when he stopped, but back then he was all muscle. Now his legs are half the size, but his hair is white.
Visconti and Pozzato don't shy away from the offer of ice cream Garzelli, Ballan and Codol also stopped at the improvised buffet Cancellara is super serious, he greets but doesn't eat 
In his Ultimo Kilometro ice cream shop in Buggiano
Visconti and Pozzato don't shy away from the offer of ice cream Ballan and Codol also stop at the improvised buffet Cancellara is super serious, he greets but doesn't eat 
In his Ultimo Khilometro ice cream shop in Buggiano
«We are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays – says Fornaciari – even in the summer. I have the house, my familyMy wife Maddalena graduated with honors in geology, worked as a geologist for twenty years, and now works with me. My daughter Arianna is in her second year of university, while Greta is in seventh grade. It's a job we do with great passion, striving for product quality. The bicycle was a parenthesis and it went well for meI was supposed to open a bike shop, but luckily I didn't. I have my own house with a swimming pool. You don't get rich doing this work, but it's very satisfying."
With Gotti and Cunego
Paolo laughs and speaks. Then suddenly his tone drops and it's as if he's turning from the handlebars to look at what he's left behind.
«I am very happy – says Fornaciari – and I have to say thank you to many people who gave me great adviceWe were together in Sicily as new professionals, do you remember? Bartoli and Fornaciari, first and third. It seemed like two champions were born, but instead only one was born.I soon realized that I wasn't a winner. It was Salutini at the time of Mercatone Uno who told me that if I wanted to make a career I had to put myself at the disposal of a captain, because with my physique I would have made the difference. Luciano Pezzi also knew how to speak to me wisely. I have a wonderful relationship with everyone, the only one I broke up with is Cipollini and I don't know whyWe were in Genoa at the start of the 2004 Giro. We had Cunego, I went to Mario and told him to keep an eye on this kid and he replied: “I talk to him, but not to you.”. Not another word since then. I've heard all the others again. Calcaterra, Craved, ScireaI see and hear the Tuscans often and I still have a great relationship with MartinelliSaeco is the team that has remained closest to my heart. We first won the Giro with Gotti and then with Cunego."
His masseurs
Paolo isn't laughing anymore now, and he says it with a bitter smile, because it almost hurts him to talk about cycling, which he struggles to recognize.
«I don't like it anymore – admits Fornaciari – because it has changed so much. I'm in contact with the masseurs and they tell me that it's not like it used to be.What was said earlier is true. After the race, we'd meet in the lobby, clear up any misunderstandings, and then move on. Now, however, everyone has cell phones, computers, and emails. I used to go on the bus to have coffee with the masseurs, who lead a miserable life.The last thing they do is actually give massages. First they prepare the supplies, then they rush them to you, carry the bags, and clean the rooms. They arrive in the evening exhausted and still have to give the massages. They have to give you morale and always be honest in telling you things as they are.I remember all my parents. Noè, Mugnaini, Della Torre, Avogadri, and Cerea, who saved me when I fell at the Tour and was peeled off from head to toe. I was with Saeco, in the Tour that started in Dublin. For years, I'd spent more time with my masseur than with my wife. I also did 100 races a year, but physically I'm intactNever a tendonitis, never a fracture…».
Kemmel, how scary
Paolo speaks and laughs loudly, this time remembering how scared he was at certain moments.
«If there is a race that was really scary – says Fornaciari – it was the Ghent descending from the KemmelThat was the biggest risk, you were scared the whole time before you got there. It was done downhill at 70 km/h on the cobblestonesThe canteens fell, the water soaked the stones and it became impossible to stay standing. Two hundred meters, no more. You slip on the asphalt. On the cobblestones, if it goes well they are bruises, otherwise you breakDo you remember how badly Velo did on that descent in 2007?
Myth of Indurain
Memory is a raging river, and his words outline situations and characters we haven't thought about for a long time.
«I have raced with many champions – says Fornaciari – Museeuw, betti, Bartoli, Dancers, Go, zanini. But for me the strongest person in the world was Miguel IndurainA gentleman, just the right amount of clever. He stopped at the right time. Once at the Tour, a couple of years after he'd stopped, he came to the starting village and was under a gazebo surrounded by journalists. I was with Fagnini when I noticed that Miguel was there, but we were standing apart. And do you know what he did? He left them all there, got up, and came to us to say goodbye.. When I was behind getting the water bottles and remounting, if I passed by him, he always said to me “Go Forna, go Forna!”».
The box of memories
Yet there is nothing about his cycling at home, just a couple of photos in the ice cream shop.
«At home there are more ice cream trophies than anything else – he admits – but I have a box in which I keep all the altimetry of the Tours I have done and the GaribaldiEvery now and then I look at them again and remember. There was a time when I made ice cream flavors in honor of the riders. The Nibali flavor when he won the Tour, and also the yellow Nocentini one. But now I stick to the classic ones and others we invent, which we take to competitions. That's a nice part, but it's more important to follow the ice cream shopCarlo Pozzi, the dean of ice cream makers, who unfortunately is no longer with us, taught me this. After I won the title of best ice cream maker in Italy, he told me that competitions were right for me because when I start the number I feel better, but people want to see me behind the counter. When I stopped the Tirreno-Adriatico, he called me to tell me he was happy to see me wearing the Accademia jacket."
It's getting late. We'll meet again on Larciano Day, to see each other again after a long time. And then, for the last laugh, "Forna" bids us goodnight.
«I have to go and lock up the chickens – he says – hoping that the fox hasn't already eaten themI usually close them first. We save them for home eggs. Same with ducks; did you know they were born in incubators at home? But now you know how delicious an omelette with duck eggs is…».
