He has remained in the quiet of San Pellegrino Terme, his home forever. Ivan Gotti is the same as when he raced, in his kindness, his shyness, his simple life.

You meet him and he tells you about himself, about the work at home fixing the parquet, his job as an agent at Ferrero and those E-Bike rides in the woods of Alta Val Brembana, enjoying himself without the effort of those years.

"Yes, because to ride a bike, a road bike - he tells us smiling - you always make a great effort, first of all you have to train".

With an electric bike, it's a whole different thing...

"I can really unwind. And it's the only sporting activity I do now, at 56 years old. I've done plenty of hard work during the years I was racing".

And this year, especially in these days leading up to the Tour de France, the mind cannot help but return to 1995, to the yellow jersey.

"Thirty years have passed, it's a beautiful anniversary. And that jersey was a real surprise for me, I wasn't among the favorites. But there were also favorable circumstances: I had won the team time trial with my Gewiss and then I took advantage of Jalabert's fall. So at the end of the day, in Le Havre, the yellow jersey went to me and I kept it for two days. On the podium it was a mix of emotion and disbelief. I had never stood on such a high, prestigious step".

And the morning after, you must have realized the importance of that jersey...

"There was great attention towards me, but I was calm, I knew the jersey would soon be on the shoulders of Indurain (who then won that Tour, ed)".

You were surprised: were those around you equally surprised?

"Let me tell you this episode: a few weeks earlier I was in Perugia, on the eve of the Giro d'Italia start and I got a fever. Emanuele Bombini, my DS, had to replace me with Santaromita and I returned to Bergamo with Patron Bosatelli. Along the way I was dejected and he told me: 'You'll do well in France'. He was right because then, after losing the jersey, I had other good days and finished fifth. It helped me understand that I could do well in stage races".

Two years later, in fact, came the Giro d'Italia, a triumph that started from Aosta. And now are you a spectator of Giro and Tour?

"Yes, I don't miss the main stages. This year at the Tour - as in Indurain's time - there's a great favorite, obviously Pogacar. He's impressive what he manages to do. He struck me at the Dauphiné, but also at Paris-Roubaix. A champion on all terrains, for his physicality but also for his mind. Thinking back to my times, only Gianni Bugno comes to mind with similar characteristics. But mentally... well, no one like Pogacar".

At your home, the little lion from the Tour podium is still there, he's also turning thirty...

"True, a beautiful memory. I can't help but smile thinking back to those days: the yellow jersey, who would have thought? Almost, I'll take it out and wear it on one of my next rides in the woods towards Foppolo".

In silence, in his peace, with that yellow touch. To remember the emotions, between joy and surprise, of that July 1995.