Blessed by Pope Leo, the Tour of Yates has ended in Rome, the pink jersey you don't expect

Well done Yates, well done Van Aert who waited for him on the slight slope before Sestriere and towed him to the finish line, well done Visma, who blew up the Giro by taking advantage of the colossal sleep of the rival teams and their leaders, Del Toro and Carapaz, who, fighting like two roosters in a henhouse, favored Yates' blitz.

When two argue, the third one enjoys, says a very appropriate proverb. The funny thing is that the two roosters continued the show even after Yates' feat. "He didn't help me," said Del Toro, still stunned by having lost the pink jersey on the last corner. "He rode badly, he should learn to race!" the Ecuadorian replied meanly. A heated verbal duel that was not very decorous. Anyway: they argue and Yates celebrates the pink jersey.

Congratulations to both of them. However, it must be said that the one who comes out worst is Carapaz, an experienced rider who has already won the 2019 Giro and an Olympics. If del Toro, 21, can be granted the mitigating circumstance of inexperience, Carapaz must instead be given the aggravating circumstance of having lost his head at the no longer very young age of 32.

He was the one who should have understood that, by doing so, they would have played the Giro. Having said all this, it is worth recognizing that both of them have created a beautiful Giro, on which we would not have bet a cent at the start in Albania.

Del Toro, in particular, was splendid. For over ten days he held the pink jersey, attacking everywhere. Let's say he did thirty but not thirty-one. It is surprising that the leaders of Emirates, Pogacar's Dream Team, were unable to better manage a little gem that is increasingly sparkling after the exit of the captain, Juan Ayuso, who was considered the favorite on the eve of the race together with Primoz Roglic, another big name who is not coming out of this Giro very well.

Too used to Pogacar's exploits, the Emirates has lost control of the situation. Of course, with the "new cannibal" Tadej everything would have been easier. However, not all are phenomena like the Slovenian. A young talent like Del Toro should have been protected better. True, he has a lot of time ahead to make up for it, but to stay on the obvious, it is better to start by winning than to come in second.

Was it a good Giro? Let's say yes. It was certainly uncertain until the last day. Perhaps we can discuss whether the route postponed the showdown too much, but the suspense certainly helped. There were no big names, such as Pogacar, Vingegaard and Evenepoel, but we still had fun. In 2024 Pogacar did everything himself, all that was missing was for him to dismantle the barriers at the end of the stage. Question: is it better to have a "Special One" who dominates the scene as a great dictator or "medium-sized" riders who battle it out? It's up to you to decide. We don't mind surprises, especially in cycling.

We should talk about Mads Pedersen, cyclamen jersey winner of 4 stages, the powerful Van Aert first in Siena and protagonist in Sestriere, and many others who have honoured this Giro d'Italia which ended for the third time in Rome (next year it should return to Milan).

But let's limit ourselves to the Italians who, after all, are the sore point of a globalized cycling that is going faster and faster. Clearly, Damiano Caruso's fifth place makes us proud. The Sicilian is 38 years old, an age at which many already struggle to climb stairs. Damiano is a certainty, but he represents a beautiful present now past.

We had high hopes for Antonio Tiberi, but various accidents penalized him. We really liked Giulio Pellizzari, sixth ahead of a great like Bernal, who managed to emerge in the final part of the race, when he was finally able to free himself from Roglic's chain. Giulio has style, personality and the freshness of age. Let's hope he continues like this. A final mention for Lorenzo Fortunato, leader of the Climbers' classification, who left the stage win to his friend Christian Scaroni in Brentonico. They arrived together hand in hand, followed by Giulio Pellizzari who completed the hat-trick. A hat-trick, that of our three boys, which lifted up an Italian expedition with few other flashes of brilliance. We haven't won a Giro since 2016 (Nibali), we have fewer and fewer talents and competitive teams.

We need a two-wheeled Sinner. But Sinners don't come from the sky. There must be a movement behind it, a nursery, a constant growth of young people. A Federation that doesn't live on too many memories. Here instead we are at year zero.