Elia Viviani says goodbye to the Six Days of Ghent and becomes the new national team manager. He takes the place of Amadio, who takes the place of VillaThe latter is leaving the national professional road team, moving on to the time trials and returning to the women's track, alongside Bragato. He announced it. the press release following the Federal Council of the weekend. Nothing changes for the rest, not even the feeling of an evocative architecture, but perhaps a little risky.
We won't find out who Viviani is today. This writer knows him, interviews him, and started talking to us when he was an U23. It would have been nice if, over the years, they had also discovered him. other insiders who, hypnotized by the street, have never recognized the Veronese the prestige it deservesElia built his career between the track and the road. He sacrificed one sometimes and the other more often, but became one of the few athletes in the history of Italian sport to have won medals in three different editions of the OlympicsHe has always been a meticulous professional, and even as a young boy he amazed people with the concreteness of his responses and the clarity with which he set goals. After 16 seasons as a professional, 90 road race victories (including one European title), 3 Olympic track medals (one gold), 11 World Track Championship medals (3 gold), 22 European Track Championship medals (15 gold), he would have every right to stop, study and choose his own pathAre you ready to be a national team manager?
A tutor for Viviani
Maybe yes, we sincerely wish it for him. Certainly, knowing him, Elia will not fail to be committed and will try to bring to the Italian team the ideas and solutions he has developed over many years as a rider., observing and experiencing the realities of the teams he played for. Is this enough to manage the Azzurri movement? Will he have a tutor to support him? Amadio, who has held the role until today And as a new road coach, he won't have hectic days for a long time, will he be in charge of his training? This is the most logical path and probably the reason why Viviani accepted the Italian proposal. The decisions of the last Federal Council in fact suggest that great desire to involve him and the consequent need to arrange the rest.
Just yesterday, Villa declared that he had always been aware that his role as road technician it was fixed-termIn fact, in recent months he has often spoken in the future: was he imagining his own job or that of his future coach? When the new national team structure was announced on February 23, by not confirming Bennati, President Dagnoni's words didn't suggest a short-term change was in the air. "Villa's undisputed value," the statement read, "convinced us to make this change. He certainly has the most difficult task in this historical phase, but also the most prestigious one.».
Perhaps if Viviani had stopped at the beginning of the season, the structure launched yesterday would have been brought forward by nine months. But Elijah, who he has repeatedly reiterated of never having thought of stopping without having tried again according to his rules, he probably disrupted the plans of those who already saw him as team manager at the beginning of 2025.
Amadio and the Council
Roberto Amadio becomes the coach of the professionals: he has the experience for that role and a team of young Azzurri players with personalities to build on. Giving up on him as a manager, the Federation weakens in a crucial role or he is aware that Roberto will be able to carry out the double role, alongside Viviani. He never liked the bureaucratic part of federal work., some advisors have often complained about his absences, but having thick skin and the experience of managing WorldTour teams under his belt, Amadio has managed to get this far since the days of Tokyo.
Already during the summer there were rumours of a part of the Council's desire to change his role: it needs to be understood whether Making him the national team coach should be considered a promotion. It is not customary, at least in the WorldTour, for a team manager to become a sports director, if anything the opposite: the example of Luca Guercilena is clear.Amadio's new position has certainly freed up space for Viviani. Will being a champion be enough for the latter to navigate the dynamics of federal politics? Amadio has admitted several times that when one is accustomed to intervening quickly to overcome a need, It's difficult to have to ask permission from someone who isn't even fully aware of the problem.Perhaps, having no managerial experience behind him, Viviani will find certain dynamics that Amadio has often found indigestible less disconcerting.
The longest step
The coming winter will offer us the possibility of seeking answers to many questions of this cold and rainy Monday. The Los Angeles Olympics are not that far away and the blue track is in the delicate situation of having more to lose than to winWe've reached a very high point and we need a change of pace to go even higher, working on the athletes and at the same time on the development of the materials. As for the road, The few months of Villa's management have marked a reawakening of interest and enthusiasmAmadio will probably continue along the same path, having shared most of the decisions with Villa.
The situation now appears stable. We remain of the opinion that a dedicated professional like Viviani deserves the time to study and enter the world of work with a more comprehensive education. Accepting this blue role is perhaps the longest step in his always very controlled careerLuckily, he will have people around him who understand his value and who will support him as best they can.
