Three quarters of Marco Villa’s poker (“It would have been nice to have Francesco Lamon here too…” said Ganna upon arrival after the beautiful move, from Milan-Sanremo, which split the finale), the coach of the track who after the Giro he hopes to have his men back fit, safe and motivated: in Paris 2024 and the reconfirmation of the reigning championsAt that point, there will only be 61 days left. Simone went to the Ineos bus to look for Pippo, who however was in the shower: no rust, for heaven’s sake, in the excited dynamics of a furious sprint you don’t look anyone in the face but friendship is the architrave on which the quartet rests golden, better not to leave anything unsaid behind.
He is Ganna Consonni’s squire, Milan’s lieutenant, at the Giro they share a room, they are always together, for duty and for pleasure. «It is not a long-standing relationship but it is solid and intense – says Simone -, it was born when Jonathan arrived at the Montichiari velodrome and joined the track team». Born in ’94, he is six years older than Milan, who is young and impulsive: “Every now and then he talks about his gut, he’s an erupting volcano, so I try to make him stay calm and think.” Yesterday he shouted “go!” and saw him set off like a train towards the second victory of his career in the pink race, exactly one year has passed since San Salvo (Giro 2023) but in the meantime everything has changed: «I’m not the same anymore, the team is different, the completely new motivation – says Milan with the ecstatic expression of a giant child -, I became aware of what it means to race as a professional. In the youth team I never expressed myself that much: I just thought about having fun. My growth has been gradual, I won’t stop, I want to return to these roads of Liguria with ambition for Sanremo.” And Consonni? «Well with him it’s a real friendship. It’s something beautiful.”
Pippo, Simone, Jonathan. Brothers knives for a stage, with the blunt blade. Capo Mele lit the fuse, the feelings that united them, and the desire to keep the Olympic gold around his neck, immediately extinguished it. While waiting for Lamon, absent from the Giro because it is not among his plans, the party is here, on the Andora seafront, where the two companions who enjoy playing pranks on the team masseur embrace each other and the third, Ganna, clarifies himself with the Ineos bosses, who would like to harness his exuberance: «It wasn’t a great attack, otherwise I would have won. So I’m disappointed.” In view of Paris, Villa wants them like this: perpetually looking for the result. 75% of Tokyo’s gold, overlooking the sea.
