Filippo Conca's victory and the overwhelming power of the Swatt Club was like a punch in the stomach for everyone. It was not just a simple victory, not just the assignment of a national jersey, but behind it lies what the guys from Carlo Beretta have been saying for years and in these days: Italian cycling needs to be rebuilt, radically revised. This format is outdated and stale. This is what the new Italian champion said up and down the podium. This was told by Beretta, Brambilla, and Gaffuri on our podcast and more.

The Swatt club is a cultural movement, a "critical mass" ante litteram, which has not only put its hands, but also its feet in the plate, shouting to the world the mediocrity of our professional movement. The institutional reaction was enthusiastic. As if to say: yes, go ahead, give me more slaps. Cover me with insults. Do whatever you want with us: we're idiots, but you're telling us that perfectly.

In this story, there's everything: rumors that Filippo Conca should have scored 5 points to be able to race, but as a former professional, he absolutely has the right to participate even without points. Then there's the Federal President who tells Claudio Ghisalberti of Malpensa24 that for the points issue, he should contact the League, which is true that it has organizational ownership, but not regulatory, since points are managed directly by the Federal Technical Structure.

In short, we're in delirium. Instead of sitting around a table, the Federation thought it best to remove tables and staff (the Piccolo brothers, hired by the federation for years and lent to the League) and leave Pella holding the hot potato, but without a kitchen or even stoves.

We're down to petty actions, when instead there should be the strength to take a step forward, to try to understand, perhaps even calling into question the guys and managers of the Swatt Club to understand what they have in mind and evaluate with men of experience and proven ability (Saronni, Mauro Vegni, Davide Goetz, Luca Guercilena, Fabio Vegni, Stefano Piccolo, Ivan Basso, Antonio Bevilacqua and so on) the indications these guys gave on Sunday. Are they just crazy exhibitionists and maybe even cheaters? I don't know, I hope not, because we would all suffer, but they definitely need to be listened to.

We are doing this these days, and I believe this should be done by everyone, primarily by Cordiano Dagnoni and Roberto Pella, who should try to get closer, to understand what these guys have to tell us and then try to find a synthesis, for the good of the entire movement.

Among the many interactions I've had these days, there's also someone who clearly told me that the fault lies with us journalists, who remain silent, who don't take a stand, arguing that they - the teams - cannot do so otherwise they risk definitively leaving the circus. In other words, deferred courage, given by delegation. We must fight for the truth, but here there are too many people who continue not to tell us the right story.