While Pellizzari conquered the Tour of the Alps, in one of those extraordinary temporal coincidences that characterize Italian sport, on the other side of the world a historical page was written for the blue track, ideally reconnecting with glories that date back over half a century ago. Italian speed has returned to the forefront of the world, conquering for the first time victory in a World Cup stage in the team sprint at Nilai in Malaysia (UCI opening photo).
Upon hearing the news, the promises mixed with the perplexities that surrounded it came back to mind. the landing of Ivan Quaranta at the helm of a sector that no longer existed for many years. The former sprinter, rival of many of Cipollini's sprints, rolled up his sleeves and started from the boys, who are now becoming men (and women) and are growing upEvery victory is a milestone, and Quaranta, beyond the exhilaration of joy that shines through in his sleepy words (between technical meetings and celebrations, the hours have been up until the wee hours), is already looking ahead.
A tournament lived with a pounding heart
This is his story of a day destined to remain engraved in the memory: «We started fourth in qualifying, but we had used it to calibrate the gear ratios a bit for the first session also because this team in the race, with Minute, Neapolitan e Predomo in order it was the first time we tried it. We've seen it many times in training, but in competition it's something else.We were a tenth behind China, half a second behind France and Holland.
«In the round we had a bit of luck because Holland won, but with a worse time than ours because the third one dropped outThe third French team also failed, so we beat the French by a hundredth of a second. We narrowly qualified for the first- and second-place match against China, who are always a tough opponent anyway."
The final saw the Chinese trio as favorites: "They came here to do well, the women had won, but here in Asia we are at their home. Minuta did 17”2 in the first fraction, the second fastest time of the day, but in the second lap Napolitano's tyre skidded because they were touching between first and second and therefore he did a worse time than in the first round.
A victory of technique and character
«Fortunately, more or less the same thing happened to China, so after the second fractionist we were almost even and Predomo made a 12.5 closing time which was enough to win. These aren't top-level times because the Malaysian track is slow, but here the result counted."
One aspect on which Quaranta emphasizes is the ability to overcome difficulties, the victory probably came from there: «Napolitano was not discouraged, on the contrary he became even more "angry", he insisted and failing to close on the first, he still threw Predomo hard, which means he always believed in it."
How did the boys take it, did they realize what they had done? «In my opinion, no, they didn't understand what it means to have won the World Cup, especially now, given that the Olympic qualification starts in October.I immediately told them that we all deserved this medal, considering the work that began a long time ago. These are three kids who were born with us and we really helped them grow. They sacrificed everything for this journey that is still far from over.
A cohesive group
The victory immediately received a lot of coverage, even in media outlets that don't usually cover track cycling: "This makes me particularly happy because it's tough to compete with these giants, countries with a totally different culture when it comes to the discipline of speed, and having left them behind has a weight. I was aiming to play a final for the third and fourth place and I hoped to win it, but the boys went beyond that.».
What did you think when Predomo crossed the finish line? «I felt an immense pleasure, because I live with these guys 6 days a week in Montichiari, we are truly a team, a family.We share the good and bad times, even the things life throws at us: arguments with our girlfriends or disagreements between the kids, because that's real life, and everything helps us get to those moments that make everything worthwhile. I'm convinced that living together is our strength. It's another piece of our puzzle on our journey.
A story yet to be written
Quaranta, however, is already looking ahead, it is as if the great joy is part of the past: «We must not stop because I want to take these kids to win an Olympic medal.If it's not in Los Angeles, it will be the next one. I always remember that these guys are younger than all the others, two of them are still under 23, and we're already getting good results, sometimes unthinkable."
Now we need to be good and know how to assimilate this victory: «I am calm about this: we all know that we are not the strongest, because in any case there are nations like Great Britain, which was not here, like Australia which was not here, Because you also have to be aware of the weapons you have in your hands. But I have guys on my side who aren't satisfied.We've shown that as soon as something doesn't work for the "big" players, we're there, ready to take advantage: if they get enchanted, we'll put them in the hole..."
