People stop him every few steps, they recognize him or think it's him, but aren't quite sure. Franco Polti is here at the Giro from the beginning, from the start in Tirana, Albania, "he was supposed to stay a few days, but he's happy like a kid and decided to stay for at least a week", Francesca Polti, CEO of Polti Spa and daughter of the patron, tells us, of that Polti which left a deep mark in cycling history at the end of the 90s.

They stop him every few steps: some ask to see his pass, others let him pass because it's enough to recognize his smile, his bright and sparkling eyes, despite his mature age, which contrasts with the eternal spirit of a young boy. "It's too beautiful to be here, I really like it - he tells me. I meet some old friends, but I also love meeting new faces. It's wonderful to be with the team, with guys who could be my grandchildren and are here to keep the Polti name high, which has always believed in sports and cycling in particular".

"Oh, you're Mr. Polti... the Vaporella guy..." It's a chorus, a soundtrack that becomes a chant and music to the elderly patron's ears... "Not only that, now there's also Solo, the coffee, our coffee, come try it, come taste it: it's delicious", Franco quickly responds, who entered sports history with a very young Michael Schumacher in the Benetton days (with which the German won the 1994 and 1995 World Championships), as well as the jersey of the glorious basketball team worn among others by Antonello Riva. Along with a parade of cycling jerseys that take you back 25/30 years, like Ivan Gotti's pink jersey.

After twenty-four years, the Polti Team has been reborn, the one of Ivan Basso and Alberto Contador, together with the latter's brother, Fran. "When I asked my father - Francesca tells me - which sport he was most attached to, he had no doubts in answering cycling". Franco nods, confirms, he couldn't do otherwise. "Cycling has a powerful humanity. We lived many years as protagonists and I'm connected to all my riders. But the emotions experienced with Richard Virenque will always be part of me. He came to us in 1999, after the Festina scandal, and won the polka dot jersey at the Tour, after Jean Marie Leblanc didn't even want him at the start. People would come to me shouting 'you saved France' and I would say 'Exaggerated, I'm not Napoleon...'"

Today it's a Como-based Polti: a beautiful image and a great "game". "We are aware of being among big teams - Franco adds - but the beautiful thing is that we don't look out of place, we do our thing, with great will, intensity, searching for the good. We are a concrete, present and recognizable team. We will come out of this Giro stronger than before. We are aware that in these 24 years the world has changed: we want to be a point of reference for all the kids who dream of a great future in cycling".

Are you Mr. Polti, the Vaporella guy? "Yes, that's me, come to our motorhome, I'll offer you a Solo coffee, you'll see how good it is..."