"If I had needed to resort to artificial intelligence, I wouldn't have even started". Words from an emotional and moving Alberto Bettiol at the Verbania finish line. Yet, AI is not a taboo in modern cycling, as explained by the correspondent from La Stampa (artificial intelligence plays an increasingly important role in optimizing training, analyzing performance and perfecting nutrition). "Cycling is emotion, not watts. I've been called the last of the romantics" said Bettiol, of whom Pier Augusto Stagi in Il Giornale recalled the drought of victories lasting almost two years, while five have passed since his previous win at the Giro. And if Alberto's heart gives the headline writers at Repubblica their angle, another Italian gains maximum visibility on L'Equipe: it's Davide Piganzoli, whom the French daily sees with the stripes of chosen lieutenant to captain Vingegaard. Almost a portent ahead of the Aosta Valley mountain stage?

GAZZETTA DELLO SPORT
BETTIOL PERFECTLY
More than a victory. It was poetry, this one. Alberto Bettiol wrote it in less than four hours along the 187 kilometers between Alessandria and Verbania, with the force of his class and an uncommon heart "flying" at an average of 48.4 kilometers per hour, he who has a pilot's license for real and loves to stay at cloud height. He could only triumph like this, moving everyone first in the saddle and then with powerful words: "Cycling is emotion, not watts. I've been called the last of the romantics. If I had needed to resort to artificial intelligence, I wouldn't have even started...". He has plenty of commitments to fulfill, yet he would like to continue telling the story of this 32-year-old Tuscan who doesn't feel old, rather "the youngest of all". (Ciro Scognamiglio)

CORRIERE DELLA SERA
BETTIOL THRILLING VICTORY
"In 2019 I won the most beautiful race in the world, the Tour of Flanders. In 2024 the oldest in the world, the Milan-Turin. And yesterday for the second time a stage of the race I love most, the Giro d'Italia. I know I'm performing less than expected of me, that I race instinctively and sometimes behave like a jerk in competition. But I wouldn't trade anything or anyone for my ten years as a professional". Alberto Bettiol glides triumphantly over the 13th stage of the Giro, after having aimed with precision at a success to dedicate to his family and that of his fiancée Lisa (who lives here) and which allows him to remember the historic coach Marcello Massini, mentor of dozens of Tuscan champions, who died the day the Giro started and whom he had spoken to on the phone "only a few hours before, when he wished me well with a thin voice". (Marco Bonarrigo)

REPUBBLICA
BETTIOL'S HEART IN CLIMBING
Alberto Bettiol's girlfriend, Lisa, lives in Ungiasca. From there to Verbania it's all uphill - steep, but short - and a long, complicated descent. Bettiol pulled off a masterpiece. (Cosimo Cito)

LA STAMPA
AI AT THE GIRO
Slaves to numbers, not only in everyday life, but also in professional sports. If algorithms are all the rage in football for selecting potential champions (not always successfully), in cycling artificial intelligence plays an increasingly important role in optimizing training, analyzing performance and perfecting nutrition. There are dedicated platforms and analysis tools that process data from every rider (especially heart rate and power). And to adapt efforts in real time to the level of fatigue and caloric expenditure. This is explained by Brent Copeland, general manager of "Hagens Berman Jayco", a high-level executive with a background in MotoGP. (Daniela Cotto)

IL GIORNALE
ON GANNA'S ROADS, HIS FRIEND BETTIOL WINS BY SURPRISE
You arrive on Filippo Ganna's roads but it's his friend, Alberto Bettiol, who wins, and he knows these roads by heart, since they're Lisa's roads, his girlfriend's. He wins after almost two years from his last victory dated June 23, 2024, Italian Championship in Sesto Fiorentino. He wins another Giro stage (Stradella) after five years: "it's always nice when you win" - says the beaming former champion. "Just being at the start knowing that at the finish there would be all my family and my girlfriend's family was already a victory for me" (Pier Augusto Stagi)

L'EQUIPE
VINGEGAARD'S NEW LIEUTENANT
Italian Davide Piganzoli, 23 years old, luxury domestique of the Dane at the Giro, in his first season at Visma Lease a Bike. The Lombard discovers another kind of cycling and continues to improve. Thursday on the Ligurian coast, Friday on Lake Maggiore, Italian life easily takes on the contours of a postcard and it doesn't seem forbidden to think that its inhabitants have better things to do than think about the World Cup, for the third time without them. (Thomas Perotto)

TUTTOSPORT
A LOVE ESCAPE, BETTIOL MASTERPIECE
Beyond the finish line he is overwhelmed by the embrace of his girlfriend Lisa Cavallini. The Verbania crowd cheers him on. Everyone celebrating Alberto Bettiol, effective leader of XDS – Astana, winner of the Alessandria-Verbania, a very fast stage of the Giro d'Italia. Yesterday's stage said nothing for the general classification, however the riders tackled it with the impetus of a noble classic. Indeed Bettiol triumphed at an average of 48.456 kilometers per hour over 187 km with a difficult finale. At the finish he beat Norwegian Tobias Leknessund by 26 seconds, 3rd at 44 seconds Jasper Suyven and then all the protagonists of the long breakaway. (Alessandro Brambilla)

CORRIERE DELLO SPORT
BETTIOL'S HAPPINESS
A success studied in training. Tuscan Alberto Bettiol returns to victory at the Giro d'Italia on roads he now knows well since his girlfriend Lisa lives around here. For this reason, after having picked the right breakaway, he attacked 13 km from the finish (when there were 100 meters left to the summit of the third-category mountain prize at Ungiasca), winning the resistance of Norwegian Andreas Leknessund. At that point, he painted the curves of the final descent and flew to the finish alone, also taking the time to enjoy the applause of the crowd, among whom were also his better half and his brother Cosimo. (Alberto Dolfin)