Paolo Bettini stood out at the start of the Velofollies cycling fair, in Kortrijk, Belgium, being one of the main protagonists of the first day. In an interview with the Belgian channel Sporza, the two-time world champion discussed the current situation in Italian cycling, expressing concern about local talent. “It’s challenging for our talents to advance.”
Current cycling is completely different
“It’s completely different from my time”, says Paolo Bettini, 49 years old, who, in addition to 2 world titles (2006 and 2007), has 5 victories in monuments (2x Liège-Bastogne-Liège, 2x Il Lombardia and one Milan-San Rowing).
“In my time, there were around 25 to 30 top cyclists who shared the cake among themselves. Now you have 5 to 6 super strong riders, who can handle almost anything. There’s nothing left for the rest.”
There are no Italians among these 5 to 6 super level drivers. In the world ranking we only find the first in 15th place, with Filippo Ganna. Andrea Bagioli is the 2nd Italian in 34th place.
“Italian cycling has a problem,” says Bettini. “We no longer have a WorldTour level team and this makes it difficult for young cyclists to progress to the highest level.”
“But the Tour de France starts in Florence this year, which is good news for Italian cycling”, concluded the Italian idol, without hiding his hope for a better future for Italian cycling.