Davide Formolo’s victory at the Giro d’Italia gave Italian cycling a boost after a serious lack of result by Italian riders in recent months.

An Italian rider has not won a monumental Classic since Damiano Cunego won his third Il Lombardia in 2008. However La Gazzetta dello Sport tried to show optimism about the future of Italian cycling on Wednesday, revealing that there are 41 Italian riders under the age of 25 in the peloton this season. Many of the best, such as Formolo and his Cannondale-Garmin teammate Davide Villella, are in non-Italian teams. But that did not stop Gazzetta dello Sport from pointing out that there are only 37 young Belgian riders in the peloton and only 28 from France.