On March 15th, defying bad weather, the bicycle community took to the streets in Trento for the "On the Right Road" initiative, promoted by the Provincial Committee of the FCI and its president Renato Beber, to shake public opinion, authorities, and institutions on the delicate issue of road safety, from driving violence to the protection of cyclists and cycling.

They did so with a widely shareable platform of requests: more controls on speed and respect for the 1.5-meter distance when overtaking cyclists, spread of "bike lanes" and pro-cyclist signage, road maintenance plans, extension of 30 km/h zones in urban contexts, communication and incentivization of sustainable mobility, collaboration of driving schools and schools of all levels to promote road safety education and create safe cycling infrastructure for ordinary traffic and sports promotion.

The initiative received proper coverage in local media and some national websites, fully deserved for its determination and content. Unfortunately, the due event reporting was not accompanied by a strong stance, with decisive supportive comments, especially from the entire cycling movement, particularly its most representative part that could, if it wanted, move things.

Not that everyone should do the same things simultaneously, but from Trento we must understand, I repeat: understand that this initiative should be replicated in all Italian cities, driven by our Federation and those who would want to be part of it, or the "pedaling" if you prefer.

Claims, conferences, interviews, and much more are fine, but to truly determine the cultural turning point deemed essential but impossible in the short term, we must at least immediately exercise the maximum possible push through a real concert of demonstrations, presence in streets and squares, in an attempt to break down the hateful barriers of indifference and status quo stereotypes.

Break down the unconscious (?) inertia present in many of us, lazily prisoners of the idea that small steps are useless or insignificant compared to the problem's magnitude. When in fact changes, the right ones, have always been realized progressively, avoiding that utopia and immobility cancel each other out. Provided one has a leadership capable of guiding these processes.

Trento proposed itself as a local initiative, but looking closely, its value is of a much broader dimension: it showed that if one wants to, one can; it gave an example of being and doing, exactly what should be spread in the most diverse corners of our entire country.

But Trento also gave another important signal: that of not being overwhelmed by pain and possible disorientation of those directly or indirectly affected by the losses of their emotional and sporting passion, as when Matteo Lorenzi and Sara Piffer lost their lives during training, and whom the Trentino people rightly wanted to remember, paying tribute by committing to act so that it never happens again. An indispensable mission for anyone who wants to be a protagonist of our cycling, its future, and the right of protection for anyone who loves bicycles.

Then it becomes disheartening, feeling sidelined and even indignant, when one of the greatest champions of our cycling, Jonas Vingegaard, interviewed on the safety issue at the end of the first stage of the recent Paris-Nice, declares: "I have two children and if one day they asked me to race bikes, I would tell them no". This is how Tuttobiciweb reported on March 10th.

Understood? He did not say "I would be worried", or "I hope the situation improves for them", or even "I would give them many advice for their protection". None of this, he preferred a blunt "I would tell them no". Almost like a sentence, making it clear that for him, who knows cycling so well, road safety for cyclists is, and will be, a definitively lost battle.

From the sports world, managers, coaches, riders, or journalists, one could have expected a rallying cry against the Vingegaard-safety-thought, but instead, nothing. As if it were absolutely negligible.

Let's be clear, a parent, as such, has the right to think and do what they want for their children's well-being, this is not what we want to deny. But if the parent is also one of the highest expressions of his sport, flattered, praised, and emulated, who by his own merit but also by those who through the bike lifted him from the fish market making him a millionaire and public figure, can he, after all this, really consider it appropriate to say that cycling, given the dangerous roads, is a discipline he intends to ban his children from?

The safety issue is serious, fears must be understood, this cannot be denied, but if no objection is raised to Vingegaard, then let's ask ourselves: how is it possible to make proselytes by asking parents to lend their children to cycling? Are the children of others less valuable than ours? Perhaps it's time to weigh words and certain statements more carefully. For cycling and road safety, we need the contribution of all our best testimonials, especially the champions people love. It would be a shame to lose more after the Danish one.

At the end of the recent Tirreno-Adriatico, with the beautiful victories of Ganna, Milan, Vendrame, and the equally stunning one by Balsamo in the Trofeo Binda, the FCI president Cordiano Dagnoni stated: "My wish is that the example of all of them and the desire to emulate them represents a powerful driving force for the entire grassroots activity and brings more and more children closer to our wonderful sport". A legitimate and absolutely shareable wish. But let's not overlook the difference between Trento's example and Vingegaard's.