And I pay, as the prince of wit Antonio De Curtis, known as Totò, would have said, even though in this case there's little to laugh about, but much to pay.

Hefty bills to race the Giro d'Italia Next Gen, the one for the young riders. A steep bill, a fee of around ten thousand euros to be paid just for participation: everyone pays for their own hotels, in addition to food and lodging. The Giro Next Gen under-23 by Rcs Sport & Events scheduled from June 14 to 21 aligns with the Tour de l'Avenir which until last year hosted the best 15 teams in the ranking for free, but this year the cousins have also decided to introduce the fee of €10,620 per team. The Italian race has chosen to follow the same path, asking for a contribution of €10,260 per team. For the "Devo" teams, clearly, no problem, since they are part of million-dollar groups, but for our small Continental teams this is a real blow.

"Pay to race" is no longer just a figure of speech, but a way of doing business. The price list has been officially endorsed, with an official communication sent to teams in recent days, who, in addition to high energy and fuel costs, now find themselves having to face a "race surcharge". It's clear that times are difficult for everyone, including organizers, but it's equally true that our movement is kept alive artificially by machines assisting the patient. In this case not imaginary, but chronic. And if they decide to stay home, organizers will probably have achieved what they secretly wanted: at the start only the top-tier "Devo" teams, those from the World Tour, the small Italian teams can stay home with their worn-out equipment. There was a time when people spoke of sport for all. Today everyone is asked to pay, so, for sport.