Filippo Conca's victory at the Italian championships and what Italian cycling doesn't see

AGorizia, on the cobblestones of Piazza della Vittoria, with the face of Filippo Conca , a few moments after being the first to cross the finish line of the 2025 Italian cycling championships , fatigue gave way to a mix of disbelief, anger and disenchantment. Because Filippo Conca might not have been in the running. After four years of professionalism, no one had thought to trust (and give a contract) that tall 26-year-old who had shown excellent things among the Under 23s and who had totally dedicated himself to other people's causes among the pros. He had pulled, chased, carried water bottles. And in his days off he had even managed to achieve a few placings. It wasn't enough though, he remained without a contract.

There have been many stories like Filippo Conca's in cycling . There will be more. Professional sport works like this. And perhaps rightly so. What counts are the results and if they don't come, goodbye. We need the honesty to say that this is how it goes and it can only go this way. In cycling, not only in cycling, reality is sweetened by many stories about values, ethics, the centrality of the person, the educational importance of sport and other chatter. It goes like this from the Union Cycliste Internationale on down. It works the same way for large and small teams. All saying to think about the men and not just the results, but all looking for the winner capable of bringing results. The point is that in cycling only one wins and almost always, to make the winner win you need the gregarious, people capable of sacrificing everything for the common cause. However, everyone looks at the first and often forgets the second .

At the Swatt club, the amateur team that allowed Filippo Conca to run in the Italian championships, they don't waste much time in chitchat. Their reason for being is imprinted in their name: Swatt is short for Solowattaggio and is open to all those who "live sport every day at very high intensity. A movement created to live off competition". It was a blog, they sell personalized t-shirts, all fashionable, all designed for those hyper-competitive amateur cyclists. You may not like the idea (it's not the writer's idea of ​​cycling for example, ed. ), but you have to give them credit for knowing what they're doing. And above all for doing things seriously. With the planning that Italian cycling has lacked in recent years, always looking for a way to survive between less than generous sponsors and an organizational model that hasn't kept up with what's happening in Europe and the world.

Especially at the Swatt Club they are capable of setting goals and working hard to achieve them . Because if Filippo Conca managed to win the Italian championship it is not because he was the strongest of all, but because he had managed to prepare himself in the best way. Something that is not to be taken for granted. He explained it himself after the arrival: “I prepared myself very well. This cycling is so fast that many riders run too much. They plug the gaps and never arrive ready. Like I have done in the last four years. In the end I have never really been able to prepare myself well and be at the top. This time, however, I was able to prepare this goal in the best possible way”.

A problem that has been reported to the UCI for years. It shrugged its shoulders, continued to increase the number of races on the calendar . The introduction of relegations and promotions to remain among the WorldTeams – the teams invited by right to all the most important races – has exacerbated the situation even more. All of this has created an imbalance between those who can afford optimal preparation (captains and their most trusted gregarious) and all the others. And among all the others there was also Filippo Conca, not a phenomenon, but a good rider who just needed time.

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