At the Oscar tuttoBICI 2024 Night, we will breathe the scent of blue. Marco Villa will be awarded as Coach of the Year with the tuttoBICI Oscar Gran Premio Fondazione Iseni y Nervi. The Track National Team Coach has preceded one of his... colleagues, namely the Junior Coach Dino Salvoldi, and will take the stage with one of his champions, world champion and new individual pursuit world record holder Jonathan Milan, who has excelled among professionals and as the best young rider.

For the former track rider bronze medalist in the Madison at Sydney 2000 paired with Silvio Martinello, this is his fourth Oscar in his career (better even than his pupils, Ganna is at 3, Milan will receive his first 2 probably of a long series on Thursday evening, ed.), after the consecutive trio from 2020 to 2022, and the last pearl of this Olympic season in which blue track riders have collected triumphs and records that have given new luster to the entire Italian movement.

Who do you have to thank for this fourth tuttoBICI Oscar? 

"To my wife Luisa and our boys Davide, Gianluca and Riccardo, work steals a lot of time from family. I must share it with the entire Italian National Team, starting from the other blue coaches because in this Olympic year we have shared choices aimed at medals with a multidisciplinary approach. Viviani and a Balsamo not at the top lined up by Bennati and Sangalli in the Paris 2024 line race were for my road-responsible colleagues a 'sacrifice' that proved winning on the track. I share this award therefore with them as well as with Ivan Quaranta, Diego Bragato, Fabio Masotti and the entire staff coordinated by Roberto Amadio (in Paris were present masseurs Fred Morini, Mattia Treglia, Piero Baffi, Mauro Pigliapoco, Marco Bertini, mechanics Jo Carini, Max Cisotto, Lucio Parravano, secretary Paola Butrico, psychologist Elisabetta Borgia and doctor Antonio Angelucci). It was a long and tough season, rich in important events, to which was added the five-ring challenge. We managed everything well, without sacrificing the Junior and Under 23 sector, for this my praise goes to every group member".

The second place in this special ranking of Dino Salvoldi, triumphant at the Zurich World Championships with Lorenzo Mark Finn, is the emblem of a team success of the National Team. 

"Yes, we now have a well-oiled work system that we hope to continue to carry forward. Regarding preparation, we leave nothing to chance neither for the big nor for the small and thanks to the National Team partners, we can provide bikes and performance materials even to the young. The victory of the Under 23 quartet with Renato Favero, Luca Giaimi, Manlio Moro, Niccolò Galli (and Samuel Quaranta in the qualifiers) at the European Championship confirms that we have good human and technical material available. The season that is about to officially conclude has been particularly intense also for the Juniors, who in terms of performance were already doing very well last year to the point that the train composed of Favero-Fiorin-Giaimi-Sierra became world champions in Colombia and this year Ares Costa, Christian Fantini, Alessandro Magagnotti and Davide Stella (plus Eros Sporzon in the qualifiers) confirmed Italy in the world jersey, with a new category world record (3'51''199)".

A season review can only revolve around the Paris 2024 Games. 

"They were the goal of the last 3 years. I was aiming for a medal in every specialty we were qualified for, we succeeded in the team pursuit with Lamon, Consonni, Ganna and Milan and in the madison for both men and women. I'm left with regret for the omnium but especially for the women's quartet that failed to express itself at its best because a fundamental element like Elisa Balsamo was not in perfect condition due to the accidents occurred. I was sorry that with the other girls she couldn't put a medal around her neck and I understand that she was disappointed when I didn't line her up for the madison, sending Chiara Consonni to the track, who had performed well in Ghent and at the previous World Championship, when both Guazzini and Balsamo were injured. Having seen Balsamo struggling both on the road and with the quartet at the end of the second test, led me to make this decision to preserve her. That then Chiara and Vittoria won is another story and they deserve the glory, but Elisa is an undisputed talent and she will prove it".

With the federal elections in view, how does the Coach spend the winter? 

"Waiting for the new four-year period, I move forward as I am used to. In February 2025 we have the European Championships in Zolder already planned and for which boys and girls will carry out a good base of road training. For those who do not already have retreats scheduled with their teams in December we will go to Sicily, then we will carry out the two short and now traditional training camps between Christmas and New Year's Eve and at the beginning of 2025 at the Montichiari velodrome. After the necessary track recalls, in January we will carry out a second block of work in the warm to then conclude the preparation with specific track training in approach to the Belgium trip. Then? So far I have been put in the condition to work well and the results demonstrate it. I still want to give myself a hard time, I would like to continue to hold this role and get to work on the group's renewal in view of the next five-ring appointment".