Triumphal day for Italy at the European track cycling championships in Grenchen.
The blue booty was two gold medals, with Simone Consonni in the points race and with the team pursuit quartet, and a silver one, also in this case in the 'team pursuit' but in this case for women.
Italy's opponent in both finals was Great Britain, which prevailed among the girls and was clearly beaten in the challenge for the title of the men's event, in which Ganna, Lamon, Milan and Moro finished in 3.47.667, the best time of this competition and also the new record of the Grenchen track.
And all this despite an imperfect change at the third kilometre.
Thus the blues of coach Marco Villa, and of an overflowing Ganna today,
they took revenge on the British who had beaten them at the World Cup last October.
"The level has risen and we arrived at this appointment with little preparation behind us - said Ganna at the end of the race -. We wanted to show that we were there and that Great Britain seen at work at last year's World Cup was within our reach In the final we went strong, really strong, and maybe we were even a little lucky, because at one point we did something wrong and risked disuniting us".
"The points for the Olympic qualification were our primary objective - says Ganna -, but the European title is a great satisfaction. Now we just have to work for the next occasions in which the points for the ranking are up for grabs".
In the women's final Elisa Balsamo,
Martina Fidanza, Vittoria Guazzini and Martina Alzini (who replaced Letizia Paternoster in the final) tried to make life difficult for the British Archilbald, Evans, Knight and Morris who dominated these European Championships from their first appearance.
And even in the challenge for the gold, the British took over from the beginning, acquiring a significant advantage which they then managed with Archibald so superior to their companions to the point of having to get up to wait for them.
The Tokyo team Olympian Simone Consonni had opened this final day for Italy in a big way, winning the points race after managing to maintain a high and constant pace throughout his performance.
So the individual consecration also arrived for the Olympic and world champion,
thanks also to the fact that he remained lucid even in the most chaotic phases of the test, in which he took the lead 50 laps from the end, only to be overtaken by the French Grondin (in the end bronze).
After the penultimate sprint, won by Grondin, the Frenchman and Consonni found themselves tied for first place and everything was decided in the last sprint, which awarded double points.
The Spaniard Barcelò won it, but Consonni took the gold with second place, with 54 points in the final standings.
Thus the blue confirmed his great form, as he had already demonstrated on the road, by winning the last stage of the Saudi Tour. In the end, coach Villa took stock of the day: "with the Olympics approaching, the overall level has risen considerably, and no result is taken for granted.
Today we were good at getting almost the maximum available.
We are only at the beginning and we must continue to work".