The medal that Jonathan Milan and the quartet of the track pursuit have worn around their necks remains something extraordinary, because when you win gold at the Olympics by beating the world record twice it simply means that you are the strongest.
Strong, very strong the twenty year old from Buj, Filippo Ganna, Francesco Lamon and Simone Consonni. They deserve a bow from all of Italy. Not just the one that rides. They amazed the world, they turned into a “blue missile” that shattered the predictions and the very favorite Danes in the Tokyo final.
Ganna is a phenomenon, we know, but in the team pursuit, a single one never wins. To keep track of someone like him, the other three must also be phenomena. If you lose a meter, even less, it’s over. I liked Jonathan.
And a lot: he has an incredible “engine”, but he also showed his head and maturity, he did a great Olympics. For the sake of our cycling I hope that other talents like him and Ganna will emerge: their enterprise can give a huge boost to the whole movement.
Crystalline talents, however, to be cultivated in plants that are up to par: the gold of the chase is also exceptional for this, given the comatose state in which our velodromes are. In Italy we have only one indoor facility where to train and not even in excellent condition.
It’s amazing if we think of what Britain, France and Germany have, just to stay in Europe. Our four boys are to be applauded, in their own way they are heroes. And I thank them for the emotion they gave us.