A life as a domestique alongside Felice Gimondi, then a career as a sports director starting in 1987 that continues today with Toscana Team Factory. Serge Parsani told us about the objectives for the new year, but above all how to intervene to help Italian cycling return to its former glory.

The novelty for you is the change of sponsor: from Corratec to Solution Tech.
"Corratec informed us in September that they no longer intended to continue sponsoring us, and I won't hide that we had some difficulties. Fortunately, we found in Solution Tech a sponsor who is also a great cycling enthusiast, and this gave us even more morale and satisfaction to continue".

What will be the objectives?
"More or less the same as last year, trying to perform well particularly in the Asian calendar that we have enriched this year, especially considering that we have inserted into our roster a very experienced Japanese rider like Yukiya Arashiro. We will compete in several races in China, Japan, Taiwan, and Thailand with the goal of scoring as many points as possible to try to make a qualitative leap. As you well know, from next year the gap will narrow further: instead of 40, only 30 teams will be able to aspire to a 'wild card' for the Grand Tours, so this year we will have to give it our all to enter the top 30 and cultivate the pink dream. Our new sponsor has said he is willing to invest even more if we could do the Giro next year, so we must give our best to satisfy him".

To pursue this dream, you have worked a lot on the roster.
"Yes, we've changed the roster quite a bit from last year, inserting 7-8 promising young riders: we hope these guys will grow to give us the opportunity to raise the technical bar even further in a year. Alongside them, absolute reference elements have remained, such as Valerio Conti and Kristian Sbaragli, like Mark Stewart and Dusan Rajovic, who moreover gave us the first joy of the season by winning the second stage of the Tour of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. Lorenzo Quartucci and the new arrival Filippo Fortin have also started on the right foot, giving us some good placements. We trust that the saying 'well begun is half done' will also apply to us".

With your experience, how do you see Italian cycling?
"With no World Tour team, it becomes difficult in Italy to retain riders of a certain value. We, VF Group Bardiani Csf Faizan, and Polti VisitMalta can only think of growing and training young riders to then launch them towards higher category teams. We would need a sponsor, someone who can set up a World Tour team to retain the important riders we have around the world. We're now stuck with Nibali, and from here we need to work with young talents".

Do you think it's just a matter of investments or does it require intervention from the Federation?
"The Federation should give us a hand because we ProTeams are struggling to move forward. In my opinion, we would need regulations that slow down this migration to top-level teams at just 18 years old, when boys are not yet formed, neither physically nor mentally. Instead, this has become the norm".

Are young talents a priority?
"Certainly. We are perhaps the poorest nation in Europe in terms of velodromes. We need to create structures to ensure they can train safely".

There's a decline in vocations...
"In the '70s-'80s we had many teams, many riders, there were several cyclists who aspired to come to Italy. Now, unfortunately, we don't have the teams, we don't have the structures, and we have occupied a marginal position for some time. The Federation should analyze this situation and find the right corrections together with all of us".

What do you think about the results obtained on the track?
"The more, the better! I hope an increasing number of young riders start from the track. We have the experience of the English, the Australians... there are many athletes who grew up in velodromes and then moved to road cycling. If we create structures, we can attract and encourage kids to choose cycling instead of just thinking about football or tennis".

You know about phenomena and have seen many in your career: your judgment on Pogacar?
"We have a group of talents that is making cycling fans passionate. People like Pogacar, Van der Poel, Evenepoel, Vingegaard, phenomenal guys who are good for world cycling. Although Tadej is undoubtedly the most outstanding of all: no one is like him. We Italians, unfortunately, do not have boys who can compete with these champions".

We also ask you for an opinion on Filippo Ganna: in your opinion, can he become a classics rider?
"I think he has all the characteristics to become one. Milan-Sanremo, the northern classics... he can definitely be a protagonist, I believe he can be one of the Italians to be considered most in the world cycling landscape".

Is this cycling very different from yours?
"In my time, there was a captain in every team, we practically always raced for him, guided by a sports director and that was it. Now teams are structured with 30 riders: in my time we were 15-16, now there are chefs, trainers, mental coaches, and nutritionists, the structure is much larger, which also brings higher costs".

A race you are particularly fond of?
"Milan-Sanremo, because it's the first classic of the year: I had the fortune of winning it with Pozzato and with Bettini, these are satisfactions that repay all the work and sacrifice made by both the boys and the team staff".

Will it take a long time before seeing Italy win a world championship again?
"I had the fortune of having riders in my team who won world championships in succession, like Freire, Boonen, and Bettini: they were a guarantee. Currently, it seems prohibitive to dream of an Italian world champion: these are phases of life, now we are climbing, but we hope the descent can start as soon as possible".

from tuttoBICI February issue