Giulio Ciccone's silver medal at the European Championships in Slovenia is perhaps the bitterest of his career and it's difficult to find an answer when victory in a race slips away by the narrowest of margins.

By just millimeters, Giulio Ciccone saw his European dream fade away. At the photo finish, after a two-man sprint, the European champion's jersey went to Remco Evenepoel. The Abruzzese rider had to settle for silver, but it's a medal he struggles to recognize as a result.

At the finish line, for a few interminable seconds, neither of the two understood who had won. Then came the official announcement: Evenepoel first, Ciccone second. A painful verdict, perhaps the most bitter of the Italian rider's career.

«The feeling immediately after the results were announced was the worst of my career. I've never suffered so much for a second place - Ciccone recounted - When there's a jersey at stake, the color of the medal matters little. I only wanted the gold one».

However, the race had offered the Italian rider the best possible scenario. Behind him, in fact, was his national teammate Christian Scaroni, initially dropped but then able to come back after the descent. «I was fortunate in the race situation, because Scaroni was alone just behind us. The gap was only thirty seconds and, for a moment, I didn't understand if he was getting closer or not. He pushed hard and in the end managed to get very close».

The absence of team radios made reading the race even more uncertain. With the Italian team car far away, Ciccone had to interpret on his own what was happening behind him, relying on sensations and glances. Certainty about his teammate's position only came a few kilometers from the finish line, when a race motorcycle provided the time gaps.

Then came the finale, studied in detail. The last corner was supposed to be the decisive point, but Evenepoel had made the same calculation. «I had a plan, but Remco wanted to enter first. I tried to take the best line and play everything to win. It was really very difficult».

Ciccone has no regrets. «I had studied the corner and I took it the way I wanted. I exited the way I wanted. I think I didn't make any mistakes». And perhaps it's precisely this that fuels the disappointment: there's no error to cling to, no choice to correct, no wasted opportunity.

«We were super fortunate with the situation that had developed. Scaroni close by, I had the chance to sit on his wheel: you couldn't ask for a better scenario. But that's how races are».

A silver medal remains, but today it weighs like a defeat. Ciccone caught his breath, looked at the result and the quality of his race. Acceptance will perhaps come later. For now, only that minimal margin remains, almost invisible, which handed Evenepoel the European jersey and the Italian rider the second place that's hardest to accept.