After Conca's victory in the Italian championship, the most varied and critical interpretations were read. Some wrote that it was the lowest point for Italian cycling: its defeatWhatever you say, you run the risk of making a blunder. You can bash the teams that didn't honor the race. You can praise the work of the Swatt Club. Otherwise, you could point out that not all teams are subject to the same regulations. In the end the only thing that wasn't done (enough) was to recognize credit to the winner. The Italian championship is a race apart, which is won or lost even on a hunch. For Giovanni Visconti, three tricolour shirts in the trophy cabinet and currently a talent scout for the Team Jayco-AlUla, something unusual happened, although his analysis of the situation doesn't align with the many he's read about.
«What does it mean – he says – that Italian cycling has lost? It seems trivial to me, we haven't been in a deep crisis since now.. There is no large structure that can connect all the categories. The eager Reverberi and Basso are doing what they can to keep up with the big teams, but they cannot take responsibility for this defeat. Even if their teams on Sunday were really below expectations, apart from Zoccarato's actionDid the teams that didn't confirm Conca lose? He lost. the Lotto with which he passed professional? Did he lose Q36.5? Unfortunately, we can't wait any longer and it's not just an Italian problem., but of the world of sport in general and of every other area of life…».
The fact remains that Filippo Conca, an unemployed rider, is the new Italian champion.
It's a beautiful story and I'm happy he made it. Maybe it was a mistake not to trust a boy who was spoken of well and who had so much bad luck. Maybe our professionals could have taken it, instead of being prey to the frenzy of letting the younger ones passOn the one hand, it's true that he had four years to prove something and he didn't succeed. On the other hand, we acknowledge that this cycling now evaluates athletes only on the basis of the order of arrival.
Do you lose a race like the Italian championship also because you don't approach it in the right way?
You have to face it with a fresh mind and probably some of you weren't. Some of the most famous riders, in my opinion, arrived too tired or took it lightly.Milan had a great run, others disappeared. You have to be at 100%, especially considering the heat. When I started watching the live broadcast, I couldn't believe my eyes. And at the end, reading the order of finish, it was understood that someone went to the start without having the right head or legsOr we should say that those who led them also made a mistake.
The fact remains that a team of amateurs outmaneuvered our professionals, starting with 10-11 riders…
From a tactical point of view it was a terrible match, but it seems trivial to say that Italy lostItaly has been losing for years, as we were saying, because it doesn't have a structure capable of keeping pace with those currently in power in cycling. Everyone has lost, even the individuals. It seemed to me that there was little desire to honor a race of this kind, I would dwell more on thatIt's normal that when someone is in deep trouble and has only one chance to prove something, they're at their best and have great motivation. Instead, it almost seems that the others have arrived at Italian just for the sake of it and it makes me even sadder.
You've won three, is the Italian really a competition in itself?
In the Italian championship there are the favourites who start in 2-3 and therefore find themselves chasingThere are teams that start with 10 men and manage to make the difference. Then there are the outsiders, elite riders like those from the Swatt Club, who give it their all knowing it's a very strange race, where even breaking away at the start often proves decisive. Look at Zoccarato breaking away with Colbrelli years ago... When the control goes out, even if you have the number one favorite, you can't keep the race going.. It's really a race apart.
A team of amateurs among professionals: it remains an oddity.
Once upon a time, when talking about Gaffuri, people would have laughed: "What do I do? Take on an amateur? Today, we can no longer exclude him; we have to adapt." Perhaps Sunday was the definitive defeat for those who think that cycling is still the same as it was thirty years ago. There are kids who grow up differently. Welcome to the Zwift Academy or new methods of talent discovery. I'm not praising the Swat ClubBecause building a team is a different matter. It requires a different, comprehensive, and in-depth approach, based not just on numbers but on many other factors that can suggest a rider's potential. My current job, for exampleBut Conca's victory tells us something very clear.
What?
We accept that we live in a different era of sport, but we realize that we no longer have that much time to get back on track.
