In the Martinelli household, you can't escape cycling even if you open the windows. This is something I know, having visited Beppe Martinelli's home in Lodetto, near Brescia, a few years ago. The Martinelli family - Anna, Beppe, Francesca, and Davide - are a concentrated passion for two wheels, and this phrase has stuck in my memory since they welcomed me to their home some time ago. Today, with a "Martino" who says he's retired, I can touch this contagious sentiment firsthand.

"I'm as peaceful as can be, I never thought I could feel so good at home...", Martino tells me, a long-time captain who will turn 70 on the upcoming March 11th. "People keep calling me to ask how I'm doing, if I miss the races, and I struggle to convey my absolute satisfaction: I'm fine. I'm fine with my wife, with my children who now all have families but still pass by here, and with my two grandchildren: Leonardo, 8 years old, Francesca's son with Leonardo; and Alice, just a year and a half old, Davide and Rebecca Gariboldi's daughter - who is also an athlete and vice-champion of Italy in cyclocross - I'm certainly not bored."

Yet many think you could return to the group soon.

"I don't know on what basis they say that. I could have stayed with Astana, especially since Vino (Aleksandr Vinokurov, ed.) had asked me to stay. During last year's Giro d'Italia, I expressed my desire to take a step back, but we both took time to think about it until after the Tour. Vino then called me, but I was adamant."

Why?

"Because I was tired. The organizational work was weighing on me. I had always handled program work, logistics, and team management. In recent years with Francesca, my daughter, and then when she chose another team (Tudor, ed.), I continued alone for a while, but the teams have become increasingly complex, large, and articulated, and I started to suffer. Last year, Vino even assigned me another excellent girl, also named Francesca (Tonelli, ed.), who relieved me of many problems, but I had already reached saturation point. I won't hide that I would have liked to stay in the team car a bit longer, but it's equally true that time passes for everyone, and it's right that younger people move forward."

Don't you miss the group?

"I was already feeling that even when I spent hours in front of the computer".

Do you have any regrets?

"No, I've achieved many wonderful satisfactions. I've always loved winning and I found guys who gave me incredible successes: from Marco (Pantani), to Stefano (Garzelli), from Gibo (Gilberto Simoni) to Damiano (Cunego), up to Vincenzo (Nibali), Alberto (Contador) and Fabio (Aru). I've won a lot, even though I never rested on my laurels. If you ask me if I have regrets: I'll tell you I have one - not being able to make my team understand that Orlando Maini was a precious piece of our mosaic and deserved to stay longer".

They say you're an eternal dissatisfied person...

"I'm made in my own way: once the victory is achieved, there's immediately another one to chase."

They also say you're a bit of a bear...

"They say... (laughs). I'm all-encompassing. I've always only thought about my family and work. When a rider switched to another team, I focused on the one who just arrived: on my guys. Recently, I even spoke with Mikel Landa, an excellent rider and fantastic guy. We were talking about a dear Spanish friend who unfortunately passed away, and at one point he asked me: 'Martino, why are you angry with me?...' I was stunned: 'Angry with you? Why would I be?' He explained that at races I greeted him quickly, sometimes with just a slight wave of the hand, and I had to explain that it's entirely my fault because I'm not good at maintaining relationships, that's just how I am: I always fear bothering people. Do you know how many people I'd like to call but always worry about being a nuisance? An infinite number."

Do you follow cycling?

"What kind of question is that? More than before, maybe even better. Now I enjoy it like few others. The other day, in the second stage of the AlUla Tour, the Swiss rider Yannis Voisard from Tudor lost his 6th place by pressing the button on the handlebar computer. I thought: these guys are completely alienated. Is a 6th place better than a 7th? No, for them it's more important to press the button to get the data. As you can see, I follow the races..."

You follow them well.

"I recognize these distortions, which in truth I had already seen before. But it's not the kids' fault, they are just the last link in a chain that has trapped everyone".

It is said that young people are too social and not social enough.

"True, but I repeat, it's not their fault. Everything is exaggerated now, they are hyper-connected and remotely controlled, they can't cheat. Everything is defined and programmed, so when they can, they try to disconnect in their own way: they connect and clear their minds".

Remedies?

"I wouldn't know. Now it's hard, practically impossible".

Since you started at Ecoflam in 1986 and then at Carrera with Davide Boifava, everything has changed.

"A different world, everything is now faster and bigger. When I tell you that the mind can't handle it anymore, it's for this reason: if I had to go back to being a tactician, that wouldn't weigh on me. That would truly be my job".

The national team would be the cherry on top.

"But I read that it's not possible, or in any case very difficult. Of course, I would like it, it would be like closing the circle, but maybe I'm asking too much".

However, there are many small to medium teams to develop.

"For now, I want to enjoy some rest and go around with Anna, my wife".

Now she is the team manager.

"She always has been. At work, I'm an incurable centralizer, at home an humble domestique, also because for years I was traveling around the world".

Do you still go to follow the races of the young riders?

"Always, and this year I'll go too".

You would be extremely useful to the World Tour cause: a top-level "talent scout".

"Well, in a certain sense I've always done that. I really like the races of young kids".

Meanwhile, our cycling doesn't have an attractive terminal, a World Tour team that attracts everyone's attention.

"And this is a problem, because just one top-tier team would reawaken the interest of the entire base. The Italian movement would need a team that makes a synthesis, that welcomes our best elements, instead we disperse them all".

Has it ever crossed your mind to try to create a team of your own...

"I recently met a manager from a beautiful marketing and communication company, which however operates outside the cycling sector, even if they know cycling very well: we talked more out of curiosity than anything else, but he told me that at the moment, in Italy, there are no possibilities of investing such amounts".

Perhaps we should resort to artificial intelligence...

"Look, in today's cycling it's already there: many use algorithms to plan riders' programs".

Is this good or bad?

"As always, the truth is in the middle: if you mix it with the knowledge of someone with a bit of experience, it's the best, but if you rely only on AI to make a program, you risk making a mistake. Let me give you an example: Nibali who moved to Liquigas: young and inexperienced. Very few results. If you rely only on AI, what could it tell you: that he's suitable for third-division races, because it doesn't take into account the potential, the engine of a guy who has grown calmly and exponentially".

With Nibali, you were the AI.

"Giro d'Italia 2011, the pink race starts from Venaria Reale (Alberto Contador's victory, then canceled and given to Michele Scarponi, ed) and one of the Astana managers, Vino's right-hand man, Darkan Mangeldiev, asks me: 'Martino, we need to win the Tour again: is there a rider we can take to aim for this goal?'. My answer: 'Yes, of course: Vincenzo Nibali'. And he: 'Let's take him!'. At the end of the Giro, in Milan, in a hotel dear to you since you've been hosting the Oscar Night for years (Il Principe di Savoia, ed), Vincenzo signed the contract with us. In 2012 he stayed another year with Liquigas and in 2013 he moved with us: in 2014 you know how it ended".

I leave Martinelli's house after a few hours of chatting with a dear friend. I open the door and the sun is still high, there's a spring-like air.