Last autumn, we told you about Claudio Terenzi's Junior team, Veleka, on the occasion of hiring sports director Olivano Locatelli in addition to Fabio Bordacchini. The peculiarity of this sauad, born two years ago, lies in its international vocation while keeping the Roman territory as its "epicenter". Legal headquarters in Prague, officially flying the Czech flag, operational headquarters in Ladispoli, and riders from different nationalities from opposite poles of the world. Last year's motto was 4 nationalities, 3 continents, one Veleka: this year there's one continent less, but nationalities will likely increase and, most importantly, the fundamental principle remains intact. Indeed, this principle has even been "enhanced" by assuming a symbolic value that reminds us how sport and cycling break down borders and, in continuity with ancient olympism, can bring messages of peace when the world outside seems to fall into the war precipice every day. Alongside the usual group of young athletes from Oceania, in recent months, two Ukrainians and a Belarusian have joined... and a Russian might soon be joining!

The two Ukrainians are named Andrei Holovchenko (class of 2007) and Ivan Berezhnyi (2008, so 1st year in the category) while the Belarusian is named Ilya Slesarenko and started the season with a comeback solo victory in Terracina, then continuing with two top-10 placements. But beyond the sporting aspect, what strikes is the friendly coexistence under the same roof and at the same table, even before being in the same team, of boys from countries with such tense relations: "They show fantastic team spirit, both among themselves and with their Australian and New Zealand teammates, and showed no hesitation when they learned they would race together" explains an emotional Terenzi, who given the period adds "a wish for a peaceful Easter".

Meanwhile, he has completed the registration procedures for Veleka, but is still in Moscow waiting to receive the visa to transfer to Italy, the not yet 17-year-old Vadim Lolo: road and track cyclist, originally from Crimea, one of the symbolic territories of the conflict raging in Eastern Europe. It could take days, weeks or months, depending on diplomatic balances larger than ourselves. Waiting for Lolo, the Italian pedaling of Holovchenko, Berezhnyi and Slesarenko continues without knowing wars.