#FlashbackFriday To a sunny February in 2003, when Paolo Bettini sealed the first GC victory in the Wolfpack's history, at the Tour Méditerranéen. Photo: @GettySport
"Italian cycling has a problem" - Paolo Bettini fears for future prospects of his nation
CyclingSaturday, 20 January 2024 at 20:30
Paolo Bettini was one of the most decorated racers of his era, winning a pair of World Championship titles, an Olympic gold medal and multiple other victories. Looking towards the future however, the Italian is extremely concerned for his nation's cycling prospects.
"It is completely different from my period," the five-time monument winner and five-time Grand Tour stage winner says in conversation with Sporza. "In my time there were about 25 to 30 top riders who shared the cake among themselves. Now you have 5 to 6 super strong riders who take just about everything. There is nothing left for the rest."
In terms of the UCI Rankings, Filippo Ganna is the highest Italian in 15th, with Andrea Bagioli the next best in 34th place. "Italian cycling has a problem," says Bettini concernedly. "We no longer have a WorldTour-level team and that makes it difficult for young riders to progress to the highest level. But the Tour de France starts in Florence this year, so that is good news for Italian cycling."
One man at the start of the Tour de France in Florence will be Remco Evenepoel. Bettini however, is unsure he can really challenge for the Maillot Jaune. "I don't see him winning the Tour this year," says Bettini. "He already has a nice palmares, but it will be difficult to win now."
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- Yes, thank you Maria. He has a fractured skull but no pain or sequels and there should be no consequences after the small bump deflates. If anything, he is more likely to get something from the radiation he received when they “investigated” for abuse, CT scan, MRI, a dozen x-rays and he will have to have a follow up scan too. But as said, all due to childbirth, if we hadn’t noticed or worried and not taken him to emergencies, he’d have had no tests at all and instead of one to check the fracture wasn’t serious he got far more :-(Mistermaumau24-11-2024
- Obviously there is the question of enormous willpower but some injuries are extremely specific. A torn meniscus for example can function pretty well during cycling whilst making it close to impossible to go up or down stairs or walk normally.Mistermaumau24-11-2024
- First of all, I hope now all is ok with your baby!. Yeah, about to not accept foreign phone number is a big problem also for me. I have economic interests in 2 countries, I think that all can be ok with my Italian number... but NO! The world is globalized but not for bureaucracies.
maria2024202424-11-2024 - First of all, calm, this is a site to share point of views, doubts, intuitions about cycling. Let's think about it: if someone tells you that he is very tired but is going to run unimportant races immediately, ignoring a world championship much further away in time that would give him the opportunity to rest, there is something very contradictory. Maybe it is fair, but as a simple spectator I (and many others) do not understand it, it does not make sense.maria2024202424-11-2024
- I think the other side has said plenty, given comments about her reputation like what Renz said above. Perhaps this is her chance to speak up against that reputation? I have no idea but her comments seem pretty human, even if each person has their own version of the story.RidesHills24-11-2024
- Give her a team built around her with no competing leaders, like Pogacar has at UAE or Vingegaard has at Visma (seeing how Roglic left), and I wonder how Vollering would do. She’s already so good, and a team dedicated to her could make her even better.RidesHills24-11-2024
- Those injuries, an ability to manage pain and push himself, probably a load of TUEs to help him get back from an awful moment, and competing that hard without the long exercise base that was the norm - no wonder he was exhausted. We’ve now had two consecutive seasons of the second place rider having an injury that interrupts training, and it shows to what level their bodies are tuned for the insane task of winning the Tour. I certainly hope both (and their teams!) are healthy next year. It would be a first, after 4 years.RidesHills24-11-2024
- Winners seem to be like this. Win or lose, it is always on to the next thing. They don’t celebrate the big win, they don’t worry about the painful loss. They move on. It’s an amazing skill. But to be able to ride (and win) while not being able to walk? That’s a level of pain management that boggles my mind. Of course they have it, given what they put their bodies through, but it’s just crazy.RidesHills24-11-2024
- Poor Demi. But she behaves the same way when riding for the national team. Bring me my tiny violin.Renz24-11-2024
- good pointsmij24-11-2024