"There are cities that speak softly. And then there are cities that pedal, even as time passes and faces change. Maddaloni is one of these. Here, the bicycle was never just a sport: it was redemption, effort, pride. It was Alberto Marzaioli, yesterday. It is Michele Pascarella, today."

Two guys separated by sixty years, united by the same sound: that of a chain under stress. Alberto, the first Campanian on the cobblestones of the North. When Alberto Marzaioli arrived in Roubaix in 1961, no one from Campania had ever succeeded. The cobblestones had eaten away his face, the rain had erased the colors, fatigue had made everyone the same. Bartali, Gino Bartali, didn't even recognize him. "In the end, he cleaned my face," Alberto recounted years later. "And I just told him: what terrible roads".

He didn't win, Alberto. But he came close enough to leave a mark. A true domestique, one who never spared himself, third and fourth in Giro stages, second in Switzerland where he was eighth in the general classification. A man from the South in a cycling world that was not kind to those who came from far away, who just gritted their teeth.

And when someone dared to call him a "southerner" during a breakaway, it was a "Piedmontese" teammate from Calvi Risorta, Gigi Mele, who slammed his hand on the handlebars: "I'm more of a southerner than him. Pedal and leave him alone".

It was a different cycling. Heroic, rough, human. Made of rain, cramps, hidden tears, and dreams never completely extinguished. Made of men who prayed, who collapsed and then started again. Alberto loved bicycles, collected them, respected them. And Maddaloni, years later, returned that love: a small street, over 900 signatures, a name etched in the heart of the historic center. There, Alberto continues to pedal.

Sixty years later, another boy from Maddaloni sets out with the same instinct. Michele Pascarella doesn't choose cycling by tradition: he chooses it without knowing why. He's five years old, no one in his family rides a bike, but his heart, yes, beats strongly.

He grows up away from the spotlight, in a land where young people are many and teams are few. Where to emerge, you must leave, taking home, parents, sacrifices with you. Michele always tries. He attacks from far away, insists, loses and returns. At the Giro del Friuli, he breaks away as long as he can, then is caught three kilometers from the finish. He doesn't give up: he takes the King of the Mountains jersey. That's how he is. An attacker, complete, resistant. Stubborn like those who come from the South.

In 2025, the answers come: victories, podiums, significant placements. Two Days of Brescia and Bergamo, GP Neri Sottoli, Buffoni Trophy, podium at the Italians. And like Alberto, once again, second behind a final attack. In Messina in '59, Marzaioli surrendered only to Bruno Milesi. In Porto Vecchio, Michele only to Carosi and Pezzo Rosola. Names change, destiny doesn't.

Between Alberto and Michele, there's an invisible thread. It's not made of victories, but of resistance. Of that cycling ability to suffer without an audience, to believe even when it doesn't make sense.

Michele studies. Books and bikes, effort and future. Physiotherapy, Motor Sciences. Because cycling, like life, can change path but not direction. And then there's the family: mom Carla, dad Biagio. Silent, fundamental presences. Every race followed with heart in throat. Every finish line crossed together, even from afar. And from 2026, a new step with the move to Under 23 in the youth ranks of Solution Tech-Nippo-Rali.

Alberto Marzaioli would never have imagined that his greatest victory would be the love of his city. Michele Pascarella perhaps doesn't know yet where he'll arrive. But he knows where he starts from.

From Maddaloni.
From the same land.
From the same need to grit his teeth.

The bicycle is this: a line that doesn't break, a relay between generations. Champions pass, effort remains. And every time a boy from the South rises on the pedals, Alberto is there. In silence. Drafting.

Pedal Michele.
Pedal Maddaloni.
Pedal memory.

from www.canaleotto.it