Dressed in yellow, Lorenzo Mark Finn climbs and descends the final podium of the Tour de l'Avenir to collect prizes, jerseys and applause. The nineteen-year-old Ligurian talent dominated the French stage race far and wide, putting his most anticipated rivals to the test from the very first day raced on the roads of Normandy.

And his words, always measured and expressed with an unusual calm for a boy his age, tell the story of the feat just accomplished: "I knew the Avenir's palmares well and entering it was my objective. Winning in Italy? A unique emotion, even more so on this climb that I had tackled in reconnaissance. Yesterday on the Iseran we measured ourselves in a grueling stage with five thousand meters of elevation gain, today instead my team worked very well first, then we returned to the breakaway and so I managed to go solo to seize this victory. What can I say? I had good feelings and I respected them".

Finn's speech then opens to a completely new horizon: "I'm closing my Under-23 career with this race, obviously made up of highs and lows, although the importance of the Giro Next Gen and Tour de l'Avenir pairing I achieved this year prevails. Now I celebrate a bit, then I'll participate in some Italian races and experience my first world championship among the professionals. A new chapter is opening for me".

And further: "I didn't know Seixas was on the course, just as I'm pleased to have brought Italian cycling back to the honor roll of a race of this level even though the precedent you mention to me - linked to Baronchelli in 1973, editor's note - is relative and the two victories certainly cannot be compared".