Ganna and the Hour record, October 8, pickaxe at the Lombardy monument

Of course cycling continues to hurt (and hurt us) … On the eve of the World Time Trial in Australia we discover that Filippo Ganna, the number one in Italian cycling, will attack the Ora record on Saturday 8 October. Yes, you read that right: on the day of the Giro di Lombardia, one of the “Monument” tests, one of the races that should be loved and defended as everyone’s heritage.

The Classic of the Gazzetta

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Lombardy, thanks to its centuries-old history, is the fifth round (the others are Milan-Sanremo, Giro delle Fiandre, Paris-Roubaix and Liège-Bastogne-Liège) of the cycling Grand Slam. La Classica della Gazzetta traditionally closes the season of races that are worth a career. An enlightened cycling should defend its monuments for a need that is first of all cultural. Whoever has no respect for history, who does not recognize the pillars on which the calendar rests, cannot give his sport a future.

masochistic choice

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What are the technical reasons that pushed Ganna and Ineos to choose that Saturday 8 October is not clear to us and we hope that they can move the assault on the record to Sunday 9. And please don’t tell us the story of the track race which has nothing to do with road tests. The Hour record goes beyond any category when champions attempt it. And Ganna is one of them. What seems unacceptable to us is that the international institutions (the result must be validated and approved by a judge of the UCI) have accepted this masochistic choice, this serious error of historical grammar.

the appeal

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We appeal to Filippo Ganna and Dave Brailsford (general manager of Ineos), whom we know as two men of “real” cycling. And we appeal to the president of the UCI, David Lappartient. The former can still change the date. The number one in world cycling can still say no, he can deny the presence of the international jury. Otherwise, that record attempt on the day of Lombardy will be an unacceptable pickaxe at the “Monument”, it will be like stepping on a masterpiece painted by champions such as Girardengo and Binda, Bartali and Coppi, Gimondi and Merckx, Moser and Saronni, Nibali and Pogacar … It will be like stepping on 117 years of history.