The dramatic turn of events that made the Montreal World Championships unique is matched only by yet another blunder from Rai. With 30 km remaining until the finish line, Rai Due switches to a news bulletin that hardly qualifies as breaking news, but so be it—some optimists thought the coverage would move to channel 58, which instead is occupied by a thrilling Serie C football match between Pescara and Spezia. Who would dare interfere with the right to broadcast such pedestrian spectacle?

McNulty himself, if he weren't busy racing, would be glued to the TV for such entertainment. The fallback option of Raiplay3 failed due to technical issues, a makeshift solution that has become standard practice for the state broadcaster. Their decision to black out the World Championships infuriates viewers. The cameras went dark with Van der Poel still leading, only to come back on half an hour later with McNulty in breakaway and a small group of survivors chasing him down.

As Nanni Moretti would say: let's hurt ourselves. But many prefer the classic Zalone meme: are these people actually professionals?