Once your fans used to say: "The sky is blue, cycling is Celestino". Today here in Val di Sole the sky is blue, tinted with the gold of Valentina Corvi and the silver of Martina Berta, and the national coach is Mirko Celestino.

What is your assessment of this world championship event?

«Yesterday we got two very important medals among the women. A gold with Valentina Corvi and a silver won by Martina Berta at the end of a spectacular sprint. Valentina came into this with significant pressure on her shoulders, because in the World Cup she had dominated, winning practically all the races. Martina, on the other hand, arrived at this World Championship with great enthusiasm and let herself be carried along by this extraordinary crowd. In these conditions she always manages to bring out the best in herself. She really wanted to win a medal and this silver rewards all the work done. We started the World Championship in the best possible way, with gold in the relay. That result gave us morale and peace of mind ahead of the subsequent races. In a home World Championship there is always a lot of pressure and starting well right away gives you certainty and motivation».

And further: «Among the Elite men we paid the price for the infernal pace imposed by the French from the very beginning. The objective was to make the race extremely difficult from the start to put riders like Van der Poel and Pidcock in difficulty, who were starting from the back. In the end, that tactic partly penalized them too, but it also had consequences for our riders. Simone remained in the leading positions until halfway through the race, then he inevitably had to slow down. In any case I am very satisfied, not only for the medals won, but for the entire trip. I saw an exceptional group, united and motivated, that worked really well throughout the week».

You transitioned from road cycling to mountain biking. Today we see more and more athletes practicing multiple disciplines: Valentina Corvi does it and among the Elite we saw Tom Pidcock win. What has changed compared to your time and what advice would you give to young riders?

«The arrival of champions like Tom Pidcock and Mathieu van der Poel has given an additional boost to the sport. They have demonstrated that you can be competitive at the highest level in different disciplines and this has encouraged many road cyclists to approach mountain biking and have fun off the asphalt too. To young riders I say that what matters is having fun, trying different disciplines and building the most complete technical background possible. Then, as years go by and you grow, you can understand where your best characteristics lie and decide which discipline to focus on more to pursue a professional career».