Yesterday he was in Camignone, under the rain, watching the first seasonal race of the juniors. Today he is at the Coppi & Bartali, to breathe the air that has always nourished him. Beppe Martinelli is like this, he needs to smell the camphor oil and the buzz of a chain running on increasingly sophisticated groups and more and more smooth wheels. "I was invited by Rossella Di Leo and Gianluca Valotti and I didn't need to be asked twice," he tells us, the multi-decorated Brescia technician.

We track him down by phone when he is with the MBH Bank Colpack Ballan Csb team at the Grand Hotel Bologna Pieve di Cento. "This is my world and I always come back willingly - he tells us Martino -. How long am I staying? A couple of stages, no more. Am I going back to being a sports director? Absolutely not, if I had wanted to continue, I would have stayed with Astana, but that chapter is closed. If Rossella, Antonio (Bevilacqua) and Gianluca need help, I can make myself available for some advice, but I've done my time. In any case, I'm happy to be here, where the Polti Visit Malta is also present and I've reunited with a brother like Orlando Maini. Two days of racing with lifelong friends: the best for someone who loves this environment".