Beppe

‘Buongiorno!’

Giuseppe Saronni’s greeting is as warm and restorative as a morning espresso. In his azure cotton shirt and black suit trousers he’d be at home in a plush Italian coffee bar, but the UAE Team Emirates advisor is welcoming Cyclist to the team’s HQ, the pair of posters behind him a dead giveaway: one is of the now-departed Alexander Kristoff celebrating a sprint victory, the other depicts Tadej Pogačar in the yellow jersey.

‘Beppe’ was the original modern prodigy, a 1970s super-talent whose finishing speed and early win rate makes even the Slovenian boy wonder look slow. By the age of 26 the Italian had collected more than 110 race wins, two Giro titles (including 22 stage wins), a world title and two Monuments. And his haul would have been greater if he hadn’t had to contend with fellow Italian great Francesco Moser. No pressure, Tadej.

Saronni is due on Italian television as a Giro d’Italia pundit hours after our conversation, but to compare his heyday to the contemporary scene is like comparing night with day. The would go mad nowadays for just one possible Italian winner of their home race, let alone Saronni and Moser both at the very top and stars such as Roberto Visentini and Giovanni Battaglin snapping at their heels. Instead, Vincenzo Nibali’s back is shot from carrying Italian hopes for champion – Nibali back in 2016 – the longest void in the race’s history. Saronni puts this down to a lack of a grassroots base. ‘Italian cycling is in great crisis for many reasons, and if there are not big projects and investments, even harder years await,’ he says.