Italy is also celebrating on McNulty’s day: “Almost always on the podium,” notes Dagnoni
In the medal count, Italy finished the World Championships in fourth place. With five podium finishes overall, however, it tied with Spain and Belgium for first place in total medals. “It was a great adventure,” said President Cordiano Dagnoni, “capped off by a splendid performance today by the elite national team, which fought until the very end for a victory that, at times, we thought might actually happen.”
“In terms of results, we made it onto the podium almost every day, and with a little luck, we might even have turned a few silver medals into gold. There’s no point in dwelling on what might have been, because all the athletes today—just as in recent days—showed courage and defended the Maglia Azzurra with honor and pride, and that’s what matters most. Congratulations to them, to the coaches and staff in Canada, and to the sports clubs. Our movement has sent a strong message even in an increasingly competitive and challenging environment. Now the European Championships await us, where I hope we can repeat the strong performances of the past few days,” he added.
Brandon McNulty claimed the Elite world title at the end of an extremely grueling race, finishing in 6h17’04”, 13” ahead of Michael Matthews and Mathieu van der Poel. Italy remained a key contender for much of the race, with Giulio Ciccone in the fight for the podium: the rider from Abruzzo finished 9th, 14” behind, after making a final push alongside Tom Pidcock. Christian Scaroni finished 18th, 3’12” behind; Davide Piganzoli, 20th, 3’20” behind; and Lorenzo Mark Finn, 55th, 10’ behind. Alberto Bettiol, Giulio Pellizzari, Matteo Trentin, and Mattia Cattaneo did not finish the race.
Giulio Ciccone: “I’m sorry; we deserved more. In the final stretch, the race got shaken up, and we found ourselves with riders like Van der Poel, Pedersen, and Simmons, who had every reason to close the gap. Even on the climb, I tried my move with Pidcock: we had what we had. For a moment I believed it could work, because I could see McNulty up ahead and we were, I think, fifteen to twenty seconds back. A gap had opened up behind us, and Pidcock and I both had every reason to go all out. But then they closed the gap from behind, and I’m disappointed with the result.”
“It was a race that started from way out front, with the big names taking the lead right away—from Van der Poel to Van Aert—right down to our own riders, who did an excellent job with how they raced. They did exactly what we’d planned in our meeting. Well done to Ciccone—he gave it his all and was in contention for the podium until seven kilometers from the finish, attacking alongside Pidcock. The tight control among the top riders then allowed riders like Matthews, Pedersen, and Van der Poel himself to catch up, compromising our chances of a better result. Giulio’s ninth-place finish is still significant, however, because he earned it by competing against the world’s best. Piganzoli and Scaroni also put in a great race, as did Bettiol, who kicked off the World Championships just as we’d hoped. “Finishing ninth stings a bit—we definitely deserved more—but overall, I’m happy,” emphasized head coach Roberto Amadio:
