Plenty of people in Bulgaria, a celebration of simple folk and somewhat untouched crowds that takes us back a bit in time, when even crossing Italy restored a sense of spontaneity and even naivety of a country still enthusiastic, the typical childlike country, before entering the tattooed era and the wow world of funeral rappers, wasted troublemakers and Sentiment Terraces for every aspiration.

One can only speak well of the surroundings, an interesting operation at the level of marketing and international promotion. One cannot say quite as well about the rest: not about the grand avenue of the first stage finish - all that was missing were baseball bats and spiked gangs to welcome the peloton -, not even particularly well about the technical outcomes. Speaking as concerned Italians, we return to Italy with a Milan reduced to shreds by this imperial Magnier, and more than anything we return to Italy with this Silva in the pink jersey. Not exactly a start to stop the presses and besiege the newsstands.

Silva deserves everything he has because he earned it through his own strength, but however much one can love and admire him, one cannot say he is the ideal pink jersey to revive the Giro. If only Vingegaard and Pellizzari in the second stage had arrived alone, certainly now we would have something else to talk about and other popular interest around the event (which desperately needs it). Instead. Selling on the market the first pink jersey of a Uruguayan can add color, can stir some curiosity, can seem eccentric, but it must never be forgotten that the Giro is not an equestrian circus. It doesn't need flashy numbers and bizarre costumes. We don't need the dwarf and the bearded woman.

It's unfortunate that this discussion sounds unpleasant at Silva's expense, but I'll say it again: Silva has nothing to do with it, he does his best and reaps what he deserves. End of story. It's the Giro that needs to question itself a bit. Even Pozzovivo, who's dazzling at 43 years old, is a very curious and very extravagant phenomenon, but anyone who truly loves cycling cannot help but wonder at what level the others are, the twenty and thirty-somethings being slapped around. In this sense, I'm trying to say, the first pink jersey of a Uruguayan is not a great advertisement. Rather, it says quite a lot about the average caliber of the event.

It says: the great Tours have always brought minor characters to the surface, indeed this is one of their noblest purposes. It's true, there must be room for everyone, anyone with the legs and head to get there can be in the spotlight. But the state of Italian cycling is such that even an event that is in itself charming can end up being impoverishing. I apologize again to Silva and Astana, I don't know how else to say it, but it's clear that this discussion is directed at the others, at a Giro that already sees very few big names at the start, squads of substitutes, and vacationers who came here just to do a favor (the hope is that the heat doesn't explode, because these guys are capable of showing up in flip-flops, asking where their beach umbrella is). They're the ones who need to get moving. Naturally there's plenty of time to have a more noble pink jersey, we'll certainly have one, but so far I would only call the Magnier-Milan duel a great Giro (always saving the Tarozzi, the Tonelli, the Sevilla who fully play their role as generous agit-prop). There's such a need to revive interest in the Giro, to get people talking about it, to force the news channels to cover it, that we can't afford to have a likeable Uruguayan pink jersey for too long. Nice and likeable for a day, even two. But if it lasts it becomes a trademark, not exactly something to shove in the Tour's face. Silva, I owe you a coffee, sorry I dragged you into this.