Time is a tyrant, but so is space. In fact, the two are accomplices: time saturates space. And with Covid or summer, comes the moment of reckoning. You start by aiming to clear the attic, you settle for liquidating a cardboard box. And among bags, folders and files, indispensable clippings emerge. Like this article of mine on Beppe Ogna: "La Gazzetta dello Sport", February 12, 1999.

It depends on chance. "Chance – claims Ogna, who is registered in the records as Giuseppe, but everyone shortens to Beppe – wanted my first coach, at the Erbitter in Gavardo, in 1951, to be Gino Riccardi. His first commandment: work. The second: a healthy athlete's life. Then by dint of being together, talking, convincing, all of that shaped me".

It depends on physique. "Physique – admits Ogna, born in Sant'Eufemia, just outside Brescia, 65 years ago – that is weight for height, and since I was tall and heavy, a bridge overpass was enough to put me in crisis. In my first year as a junior I won a race, in a sprint, and then the Coppa Adriana, which was a sort of Italian team championship. The following year, in 1952, I participated in the selections for the Trofeo Gardiol, track sprint: I won the provincial level, came second in the regional behind Guglielmo Pesenti, and since the top two qualified, I also took part in the nationals and came second again, still behind Pesenti".

It depends on luck. "Luck – says Ogna, Italian champion among amateurs (sprint and tandem) and professionals (sprint), world champion among amateurs (sprint) and an Olympic bronze (tandem) – is something that exists in that moment and then maybe doesn't exist anymore. An idea, a flash, or a burst of effort, a flick, in short a centimeter is enough and more. But there was also skill: I wasn't a pure sprinter, like Maspes, nor as powerful as Morettini and Gaiardoni. I had to set up my sprint on the opposite straightaway, starting long from behind".

It depends on the days. "And on the Six-Day races – adds Ogna, who lives in Rezzato, outside Brescia, and manages the Olimpica sports center (tennis, five-a-side football, mini-golf and gym). I competed in about forty and won two, in Adelaide, Australia, and in Hobart, Tasmania, plus a second place in Melbourne with Terruzzi, and a third in Madrid with Faggin. All teammates, more than that, friends, more than that, brothers off the track, all mean and ruthless on it, and then brothers again off it. We shared apartments, beers and even women, but in a race you gave your soul. As long as you had one. In Berlin, with De Rossi, I only hoped I had the courage to retire because I couldn't take anymore. I lasted three days, then I withdrew".

It depends on the times. "Back then – recalls Ogna, who raced with Coppi's Bianchi and Maspes's Ignis – you went to races on a scooter: a friend in front and me behind with the bike slung over my shoulder. Or by train, with the bike in the mail car. Or by car, taking turns driving like in a relay. Or by sea: 28 days from Genoa to Perth, Australia, pedaling on rollers. Good times, though".