When talking about cycling, we're used to telling stories of champions, the cycling of Pogačar and Evenepoel, the Giro and the Tour, yet on the other side of the world, there's a completely different way of experiencing this sport. Becoming a cyclist is not normal, it's a difficult choice, a dream you start chasing knowing it will be impossible. At the Tour de Langkawi, you just need to look around to see that this is not the cycling we're used to. The big teams, accustomed to high-level races, experience the adventure in Malaysia as just another event, but for many athletes, it's an opportunity to live their dream.

Yesterday, the second stage of the Tour de Langkawi started from Padang Besar, a town located on the border, just a step away from Thailand, a land described as mysterious but at that moment seemed literally within reach. Everyone in the Thai national team's tent was busy, wanting to be ready for the home stage. We approached looking for someone who spoke English, and the team's masseur made it clear we had only one option. Destiny led us to Thanakhan Chaiyasombat, 26 years old. A few words were enough to understand that his was more than a simple story to tell. His emotion was palpable; it was practically one of the first times he had spoken with a non-Asian journalist. He didn't know how to behave, we told him not to worry, to speak freely, and so he began his story.

In Thailand, becoming a professional cyclist is not just difficult, but downright unthinkable. The national sports are quite different, there's Muay Thai, various martial arts, football, cycling is growing in small steps thanks to sponsors and private funders who are believing in it, but the road ahead is very long. Thanakhan completely fell in love with it thanks to his father, a cyclist in a small team who was able to pass on the passion for this wonderful sport. "My first memory related to cycling is about my father, when I was about 3 years old, he would go out on his bike almost every day and return in the evening, he had a road bike and a mountain bike. When he returned, he was always tired, often muddy, bleeding from wounds, yet he would smile. I couldn't understand why he continued to do it, how this could be considered fun? Then, growing up, I started to understand and fell in love with cycling. At six, they gave me a small bike, I joined a local club in my city and started fighting for my dream," Thanakhan tells us. From that moment, he never stopped. At 17, he joined the Thai national team, started doing more and more prestigious races, won national titles, the last one in the past season, participated in world championships and last year fulfilled the dream of going to the Olympics.

The trip to Paris was the best moment of his career, the realization of a gigantic dream that he still struggles to talk about without getting emotional. The placement doesn't matter because for Thanakhan, being there is the greatest victory he could obtain. When he rides a bike, he is inspired by Thomas Pidcock, not only because they have the same age and body type, but he is fascinated by his style, the way of racing often without following the rules, simply being himself. During the World Championship race in Rwanda, late in the evening in Malaysia, with his entire team, he watched the race and Tadej Pogačar's victory on television, which left him speechless. "That race was a great inspiration for me, Tadej is incredibly strong and I believe he is the greatest talent of our generation - Thanakhan continues - unfortunately, I never had the opportunity to race with him, I hope that one day it can happen. In 2021, I met him during the World Championships in Belgium, unfortunately we were in two different categories, me under-23 and him elite, but seeing him ride alongside me was truly very exciting."

The Tour de Langkawi for Thanakhan is like a small world championship, an opportunity to be shoulder to shoulder with the greats, to learn from them and continue the dream of being able to race in Europe. It's not an everyday occurrence to find yourself in a group with world cycling stars, the emotion is great and you don't always know how to behave. During the team presentation, he had unsuccessfully tried to approach Alexander Kristoff, too many people, too much emotion, the 26-year-old Thai was already throwing in the towel when the most incredible encounter of all happened. "Kristoff is a legend, and for me, it's an honor that he chose the Tour de Langkawi to end his career. I wanted to talk to him, but his presence intimidated me. But then the other night in the hotel, something truly crazy happened: I was in an elevator with other guys, to make it go you had to place the room card, but none of us had it, when suddenly Kristoff appeared with the card in hand. We took advantage of it, the elevator started going up when suddenly it stopped between two floors. He pressed some buttons and after saving us, he left, greeting us. We were speechless," Thanakhan tells us. His is the story of the purest cycling, made of fewer data and more emotions, many dreams, many hopes, and the desire to find one's place. Gradually, the various athletes at the start of the Tour de Langkawi pass in front of us, he looks at them with admiration, with the eyes of a boy who has tried to trace an non-existent path and does not want to give up.

Thanakhan would like to tell us more, but our driver interrupts us, reminding us that we must leave. The Thai boy makes us a promise: "Today I will go on the breakaway for you, for the Italian fans," he tells us before saying goodbye. We think it's a joke, yet it happens. In today's breakaway, he is there, with his usual smile, ready to show himself to the world and change his career. We don't know if from today he will have any Italian fans, or if any team will be interested in him, but what we are sure of is that after listening to his story, we have grown a bit fond of him.