Albanese. Finally, Albanese.

Tour du Limousin (2.1)
Stage 4: Saint Laurent sur Gorre-Limoges (175’1 km)

All victories are not equal. Each victory is, in its own way, beautiful and unforgettable. Unique and exciting. Powerful and capable of leaving you breathless. This victory, Albanese’s victory, came with the disruptive force of something expected for too long and too many times brushed by, came to remind us how good it feels to win and to give meaning to every sacrifice and every day’s work.

We should tell the story of how it went, of Fedeli’s first attack and then of the decisive razor-sharp finish by Albanese, who had the courage to try with 1.5 kilometers to go: he went away and they never caught him again, he went away with the strength of those who believe in it and those who would not accept another placing. A victory that swept away the disappointments, the near victories, the second places, the mockery at the finish line.

We should tell you about the celebration, because in a Tour du Limousin with a very high level, winning was not easy, and a victory like that is just to be celebrated. To be celebrated all together: from Alba on down, because that’s what a team does.

To win is beautiful. To do it all together is the most beautiful thing in the world.

Vincenzo Albanese: “I am happy, too much happy. I look back, I see again the years before I came to EOLO-KOMETA that were the darkest for me, the years when I hit rock bottom. And then I see the last year and a half when I always went strong but only came close to winning: I had twenty-five placings out of sixty races. And now, finally. I think tomorrow morning I will really realize that I have finally won, but even now it’s beautiful.” And Alba, he tells us what that last kilometer was like. “If we had sprinted, I would have done another placing: of a third, fourth place I couldn’t do anything with it, so I decided to go for it. It was either win or finish 50th. I knew I would have to gain right away because at the end the peloton would surely catch up, that’s why I kept turning around: I saw that I had a good lead, that the others were looking at each other, and so I gave it everything even if that kilometer was never ending. And this time, it went very well.” And at the end, a special dedication: “To my mother-in-law, who is having a hard time. And to my family who has always supported me.”

Sprint Cycling