Beppe Martinelli reaches the milestone of 70 years today. In a beautiful interview with Pietro Pisaneschi for Corriere Brescia, the technician from Rovato has shared emotions and thoughts from a long career.

We present some excerpts to pay tribute to a person who has written many pages of history.

THE QUOTE. "I was truly very lucky in my work. I can't believe how much time has passed, but perhaps staying among young people in a world you love made me not notice."

TODAY. "I watch cycling on TV, even three races simultaneously: I haven't missed a San Geo race and on Sundays I go to watch young riders."

THE BEGINNING. "I participated in the first edition of the Youth Games. Actually, I liked athletics and was quite good at it. Then a sports director from GS Europack told me to try cycling. That's how I started riding a bike. It was the beginning of a story that led me to be a professional from 1977 to 1985 after winning a silver medal as an amateur at the Montreal Games in 1976."

THE CHAMPIONS. "In the team car, I guided Pantani, the rider I celebrated and suffered for more than anyone else, Garzelli, Simoni, Cunego, Nibali, with whom we always got along in everything, and Aru."

THE CHOICE. "Quitting was my own choice. The last years were difficult, with few results. I admit it: I like to win. I spent the last years thinking about logistics with my daughter Francesca beside me: I really liked that. Then, when she chose to go to Tudor, I started to consider stopping."

CREATIVITY. "Despite tools and technologies, even in modern cycling I tried to carve out a corner of creativity where I could invent something, but it had become impossible. Performance has overtaken the sports director, preparers and nutritionists now count more."

ENTHUSIASM. "Cycling can still excite, anyone who says it's boring now is not a true enthusiast. Have you seen Pogacar's photo in Piazza del Campo in Siena? I would put it in all schools to encourage children to do cycling, to show them the beauty of this sport."