Fairy tales don't exist, but in cycling, we often come across stories that seem too good to be true. The Italian cycling championship was won on Sunday by Filippo Conca, a 26-year-old club rider from Swatt Club. It was already incredibly impressive that he was part of the decisive attack in the final, but he also won the sprint with ease. The tricolore is, therefore, his for a year.
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Conca does have a history as a professional. He rode for the Continental Biesse Carrera since 2019 and was signed by Lotto Soudal in 2021. After two years with the Belgian team in the WorldTour, he rode for Q36.5 for another two years, but his contract expired at the end of last year. The search for a new team proved difficult, so Conca decided to cycle at club level.
The young Conca had never won a race in his professional career. Still, when it became clear that he would not find a professional team, he devoted himself to what became months of preparation for the national championship in Italy. “I had a choice: quit or go to Swatt. I've been waiting for this race since October,” he said afterward. “In all my years as a professional, I worked solely for others and, therefore, rarely achieved any results of my own. That's why I couldn't even find a continental team.”
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Read more below the photo.
Conca (right) wins over Covi (left)
Conca proud after a tough challenge
Sunday was, therefore, “an incredible day,” in which Conca was faster than UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider Alessandro Covi and Soudal-Quick Step talent Thomas Pesenti. “At Swatt Club, they allowed me to participate in gravel races, but it wasn't an easy season for me. I've had bad luck with crashes, and in mid-May in Livigno, I hit a marmot on a descent. I've been looking forward to this day since October, so this is a dream come true.”
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An achievement to be proud of. “Not so much because of the result, but mainly because of all the suffering I've been through in recent months.” At Swatt Club, the tent was ecstatic after the Italians saw Conca sprint surprisingly to the tricolore. Beautiful images!
Bram van der Ploeg (35) is the proud founder of In de Leiderstrui, IDL Pro Cycling's parent site, launched in 2018. Finally, he could create stories about the sport he had followed since childhood. He is the editor-in-chief on paper, but prefers to be with his recorder next to a rider, a team bus, or in the mud at a cyclocross race. Every year, from February to the end of May, Bram follows the entire Italian cycling season, from the Trofeo Laigueglia to the Giro d'Italia, with the grand finale in October in Lombardy. During that time, he lives in Tuscany, where he has since come to call Italy his 'home'.