The black jerseys: the last riders in the general classification, the first in the sentimental standings. Because the black jerseys belong to the domestiques, in perpetual struggle with the time limit and minimal energy reserves. The most human and the most humble. The most like us. This is the ninth installment, dedicated to Giuseppe Fonzi, last at the Giro d'Italia in 2017 and 2018.

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As a child he was used to winning. As an adult he got used to not winning anymore. As a professional, the masterpiece: the double, Giro d'Italia 2017 and Giro d'Italia 2018, last in the standings. With extraordinary regularity: in 2017 at 5 hours, 48 minutes and 40 seconds, which at an average of 39.843 kilometers per hour means roughly 225 km behind Tom Dumoulin; and in 2018 at 5 hours, 48 minutes and 37 seconds, three seconds less but five km more, which at an average of 40.181 kilometers per hour corresponds to roughly 230 km behind Chris Froome.

Head to tail, Fonzi?

“With Dumoulin, no, we didn't speak. With Froome, yes. At the start of the final stage, the circuit in Rome, he was lined up in the front row, I approached him, I said 'I'm the last one', 'ah, yes' he replied, I asked him 'can we take a photo together?', and we did, the celebratory photo, him in the pink jersey, me with the Wilier Triestina one, because the black jersey didn't exist, it wasn't provided for, it was only symbolic”.

Was it hard?

“It would have been harder to go faster, for me it was about going slower. But even that slower pace was often hard, sometimes extremely hard. It depended on the stages. The difference was all in the climbs. I won my first black jersey as a domestique. The fourth stage finished on Mount Etna. Jakub Mareczko, our sprinter, dropped off on a climb far from the finish. We chased all day. We arrived after more than half an hour, me 189th, him on my wheel, and after us there were two other riders. The ninth stage finished on the Blockhaus. This time the gap was over 34 minutes, Mareczko 188th, me on his wheel, and after us there was still one more rider. Mareczko would retire and I would be free to race my own race. In the end”.

Breakaways up front, on the right side?

“Giro d'Italia 2017, the Alberobello stage, in a breakaway from km 0 to km 199, too bad there were another 18 km to the finish. Giro d'Italia 2018, the Prato Nevoso stage, a solo breakaway, 11 minutes of advantage, on the final climb my light went out, darkness, black, emptiness, crisis, bonk. I had started strong, I wanted to do something good, so focused that I forgot to eat and drink, even though Serge Parsani, from the team car, kept reminding me. Not only did they catch up those 11 minutes, but they added another 27 minutes. And there were those who thought, said and wrote that I had slowed down to save my last place”.

Rewards?

“Money, zero. Circuits, never. Pushes, sometimes: up at Piancavallo I arrived fresh and rested. Interviews, few, but one at the Japan Cup, after captain Filippo Pozzato they wanted me as the last rider at the Giro. The real reward came from the people: I felt sought after, pampered, loved, cheered, applauded. People love those who go slower. The surname helped me a bit: in 2017, at the final stage, the time trial from Monza to Milan, as the last rider in the standings I started first, I presented myself with a leather jacket like, well, Fonzie in 'Happy Days'. It was a success. I did it again in 2018, in Sicily. Another success. And to think that...”.

And to think that?

“My father had two passions: the bicycle, so much so that he came close to turning professional, and the truck, so much so that he opened a trucking company. He told me that in life I could do anything, except be a cyclist and a truck driver. As if by fate, from 2013 to 2019 I raced as a professional and now I'm with my father in the trucking company. I do everything: in the office and behind the wheel”.