Davide Formolo WINS Veneto Classic! 👏 UAE, the overwhelming favourites didn't disappoint in the last one day race of the season and did a 1-2 with Hirschi in front of Zana. #VenetoClassic
“Cycling in Italy has a big problem" - Filippo Pozzato on his ambition to recapture Italian interest in the sport
CyclingWednesday, 18 October 2023 at 19:00
Since retirement in 2018, former Milano-Sanremo, Tirreno-Adriatico and two-time Tour de France stage winner Filippo Pozzato has remained close to the sport, including the creation of the Veneto Classic. In his mind however, a lot needs to be done to recapture Italian interest in the sport of cycling.
“Cycling in Italy has a big problem,” said Pozzato in conversation with Wielerflits. “The cycling fan is too old. I want to try to change that, to attract young people too. It must be a celebration around the race. For me, cycling is the most beautiful sport there is, but the population is very old and it is not attractive to young people. That change is not easy, but it is not impossible either.”
So how does he plan to go about this challenging task? Finance and investment will obviously be key. "You start with one paying customer, then a year later there are five and then ten. Our VIP area cannot be compared to that on the Koppenberg. The situation is very different, but I try to learn from it," he explains. "We now have a few large and loyal sponsors who have signed for three or four years, until 2025. This way we can also work in a future-oriented way and every year I receive a fixed amount from the Veneto region. That is very important, they are the basis and without them I could not have started this in 2020.”
“It gets better every year. Now I have a product that I can show to potential partners. Crédit Agricole was first our sponsor and then joined RCS, but they see that there is a difference between our organizations. If I have sponsorship money left over, I want to make my competition better every time. I see that as an investment," Pozzato continues, however it isn't easy. “The system is just very difficult in Italy."
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- I counted 16 riders under 24 out of 43 that started. Once was only 16 ! Two of the top riders are Zoe and Schreiber and both under 23 yet that have done 50 min races in the past with the elites so I think it's just bad clock management. Let them race 50 freakin' minutes! One more lap could have made a big dffierence most times in the podium and winner.frieders319-11-2024
- He needs to finish out his contract and then go hit MTB and Cross/Gravel really hard, that's where his heart is.awp18-11-2024
- Pidcock is starting to sound like Froome now.Sweep18-11-2024
- I think this was because there were junior women in the race. If a race has junior women am pretty sure it has to be less than 45 minutes. I believe a rule is coming in for next season that will fine organisers that don't put on a junior women's race a fine equivalent to the prize money. So fingers crossed we should see more longer elite and junior women's races from next season.NorrisHippocampe18-11-2024
- Of course he CAN. Big salary in cycling is not when you win but when they talk about you (and your team / sponsors). For every news about Jonas, MVdP or Wout there are 10 times more(!) news about Pidcock (like everyday for last 2 months?). Since cycling is advertising sport not competitive sport (in terms of from money comes from) Pidcock is winner and GOAT - change my mind. ;-)averagecyclist18-11-2024
- Why do the women CXs keep getting short changed with the length of theor races? They could have easily done another lap to put them at 50 minutes which is their time limit. Yet another CX race where they fail to reach this when they had a chance to. Come on ... the math isn't that hard to figure out lap times and divide into 50 min!frieders318-11-2024
- All pro cyclists are massively underpaid! The amount of riding and physical exertion they put their bodies through is crazy compared to other sports. I can't think of any other sport where you are physically active at a very high level of power output for hours on end each day.Pogboom17-11-2024
- When I was working for Starkist/Heinz my manager quit. So the next week my group was put under another manager. During our first meeting he asked if there was anything we needed to tell him. I said that I would be out the following week on vacation. He said "I don't know if I can let you go on vacation". I replied, "You can't tell if I can go. You can only tell me if I can come back".Sweep17-11-2024
- :-)Sweep17-11-2024
- What a mess there :-)
DareDevil17-11-2024