It took a painter, at the turn-of-the-century crossroads between Expressionism and Futurism, it took precisely a Matisse, with Van Kerckhove as his surname, to elevate the finish line of the Giro Next Gen at Bacoli to sublime heights.

It took the touch of a Matisse, even if from across the Alps, to paint the arrival at Bacoli in unprecedented colors, an earthly Eden on the edge of the sea, the finish of a cycling race. It took Matisse, counterpointing an incomparable day of attacks and comebacks against the backdrop of the Phlegraean Fields, millennia of history and centuries of Latin heritage, interpreted by young champions who are our grandchildren's generation, like Finn and Arrighetti, Dodd and Sparfel….

Between Bacoli and Monte di Procida, on a circuit worthy of a World Championship that reinvents the icon of cycling at every hairpin turn, there where in '77 Freddy Maertens won the time trial in the rainbow jersey, a Belgian champion of that era, yesterday a Matisse marked his authorial touch, with Van Kerckhove as his surname. The pink jersey handed over on the podium was for the young Belgian rider from Team Visma Development an additional gouache. But it bore the unmistakable signature of an author. 'Flowers are everywhere, you just have to know how to look for them,' as Matisse once said. And yesterday in Bacoli, a triumph first and foremost for the best of Italy.