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Bettiol is one of just nine Italians to have won the Tour of Flanders. He was inspired by seeing Tom Boonen and Fabian Cancellara battle for victory when he first started cycling as a boy. He followed in the footsteps of fellow Tuscan winners Fiorenzo Magni who won three consecutive editions of the Tour of Flanders in 1949, 1950 and 1951, Michele Bartoli who won in 1996 and Andrea Tafi in 2002.

Cycling is now far more of a global sport but there are only a handful of Italian riders who have the talent and temperament to emerge in the Tour of Flanders. They include Matteo Trentin (UAE Team Emirates), Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain Victorious) and Davide Ballerini (Deceuninck-QuickStep) but the Italians have to be extra hard to be competitive on the roads around Oudenaarde.

“In Italy, we grow up in a very different kind of cycling. It’s terribly hard racing up here but the Belgian and the Dutch are naturally used to it all. We have to really learn to love it,” Bettiol explains.

“Just think of the weather. The Flemish and the Dutch are used to the cold and rain, they probably went to school by bike in the rain almost every day. In Italy my mum would never have let me ride to school in the rain, she’d have taken me by car.

“Italian racing is a lot like Milan-San Remo: we love to roll along and chat at the back for 100km and then race the finale really hard. In Belgium, it’s totally different. They don’t have long climbs so if you want to win, you have to learn how to attack and make the difference on the cobbled climbs or in the wind. Positioning in the peloton and before the key points of the race is hugely stressful and it matters from the very start of the race.

“The cobbles and country roads of Flanders are so different and so difficult to get used to for whoever doesn’t grow up there. It took me three years to learn how to race in Belgium and I still feel like a novice.”

Bettiol served his racing apprenticeship in the early years of his career when he raced with Cannondale between 2014 and 2017 and quickly returned to Jonathan Vaughters’ team after a season at BMC.

“I grew up watching the Tour of Flanders and so then to race on the same roads was magical,” Bettiol recalls, explaining his love for racing in Flanders.

“Winning the Tour of Flanders in 2019 changed my life. It’s like when you get married or have children. My life and my career will never be the same. I’m so grateful for that.

“There’s something special about racing here. A little less so now due to the COVID-19 restrictions and limited crowds, because there isn’t the smell of frites and beer over the top of the Kwaremont. But it’s still a big day out, one any cyclist surely loves.

“I think the Tour of Flanders is the most beautiful race out there and I’m not saying that because I’ve won it. It’s got everything. It’s spectacular to watch and it’s symbolic for all of us. It represents a nation and our sport so well.”

He was only 25 at the time and the youngest winner since Tom Boonen claimed the first of his three Ronde victories in 2005. It was also his first-ever professional victory after a series of placings that indicated his talents but never confirmed them. Victory really did change his life.

“Of course it hurts not to be able to honour this year’s Tour of Flanders but it’s a race I love and so I know that I’ll be back in the years to come to fight for another victory,” Bettiol said with optimism.

“I’ll never give up trying to win races because I know what I can do in cycling, I’ve shown that by winning the Tour of Flanders.”

With Wout van Aert, Mathieu van der Poel and the Julian Alaphilippe/Deceuninck-QuickStep collective so strong, Bettiol knows he has to ‘giocare di anticipo’ – try and anticipate the big moves – just as Dylan Van Baarle (Ineos Grenadiers) did so well to win Dwars door Vlaanderen on Wednesday.

“I, like so many others, have to play our cards early and try something long-range, that’s risky but can come off if the big three look at each other,” Bettiol explains.

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