He had a challenge ahead of him that was almost impossible, and Vito knew it very well. He considered it his third world championship to win, instead, that damned illness took away a great man, not just from a sporting perspective, but especially as a human being. Vito Di Tano passed away last night, after a hard and heartbreaking battle with a disease that gave him no way out. "Vito Di Tano has flown to heaven," these were the few lines we received from Paolo Guerciotti, friend, sponsor, and brother in this earthly life.

For 18 years, he had to deal with scleroderma, an autoimmune disease he had learned to live with, but in recent months he was fighting lung cancer diagnosed on August 28th.

Born in Monopoli on September 23, 1954, he had become an institution in Italian cyclocross. He won a competition with the railways, but the position was in Lombardy, so he had moved. He raced on the road, but soon discovered mud, which better suited his railway work. From mud, he emerged as a giant, not just because of his imposing stature. In 1979, he made his world championship debut in Saccolongo, winning among amateurs. The following year, he won the first of his 6 national titles. In Lembeek (Belgium, in 1986) he again won the world title among amateurs. His career was linked to Paolo Guerciotti, the talent scout, sponsor, and lifelong friend who today mourns a brother he deeply loved. Our condolences to his children Mariagrazia with Nunzio, Alessandra with Claudio, Sara with Ettore, his brother Sante, sisters Bina and Antonia, brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, nephews, and all those who knew and loved this man of deep faith.

Vito Di Tano's funeral has been set for tomorrow at 10.

This is the last interview Vito had granted me last September 23rd, on his 70th birthday.

Happy birthday, dear Vito. Congratulations as always, every year, and more than ever. Sincere and authentic wishes, because you need them, because we need them, every day and in every moment: always.

Today Vito Di Tano turns 70 years old. A round date that has become jagged, pointed, and cutting. Like his words, firm, rolling, and thundering, which do not betray emotion, which do not shy away from fear, but face it, as always. "Thank you, director, for the wishes, I really needed them, I need them, like the air I breathe" - he tells me -. "Tonight I'll celebrate with my family, my kids (Maria Grazia, 44, Alessandro, 41, and Sara, 34) and my jewels, my grandchildren: Giulia (7 years old), Livia (5), Enea (2 years old) and Micaela (a year and a half). And I have something to celebrate, more than ever, because the third world championship awaits me, the most difficult ever", the one of a malignant lung tumor diagnosed on August 28th.

Words like boulders that take your breath away. Vito speaks confidently, as always, more than ever, in perfect Di Tano style: reserved and passionate. True, authentic, and direct.

"I'm sorry to bother my children, my friends, because we've already been through this fifteen years ago, when my wife Livia fell ill and left us within a year. They didn't deserve to experience such a situation again, but I'll give it my all to get through it, to win this world championship too. It depends on me, but not only. This time I'm not responsible for my destiny. I'm only sorry that after 55 years of cycling activity, I'm forced to step aside. I had set myself the goal of reaching 70 and wanted to finish the season on the race fields, but it wasn't possible. Now I have to think about myself, I have to take care of myself, focus on this extreme challenge".

For eighteen years, you've been affected by an autoimmune disease.

"I have systemic sclerosis (scleroderma: like Mara Maionchi, ed.), but I've learned to live with it quite well. Because I'm followed by exceptional people like Dr. Lorenzo Beretta. Then, just a few days after the Guerciotti's 60th birthday party, I started having trouble breathing. Despite this, I always went out on my bicycle, of course! Then I went to Mater Dei in Bari, and they diagnosed me with a lung neoplasm. Now I'm being treated at the Policlinico in Milan, under the careful care of a world-renowned luminary like Professor Lorenzo Rosso. I'm waiting for the PET scan results to start chemotherapy cycles. Let's hope for the best, I'm giving it my all".

Like when you were racing.

"As always. I started in 1969 - 55 years of registration - with the Youth Games. We are three who have won the Games and then become world champions: me, Saronni, and Fondriest. In '69 in Puglia with the Libertas Fasano jersey and then with Taras in Taranto. In '77 with Fiorella Mocassini with Carmelo Barone and Riccardo Magrini and from 1978 in Lombardy with Paolo Guerciotti, who is more than a brother to me. 173 victories in cyclocross, 56 on the road. Meanwhile, in '76 I won a competition for a railway position and on January 10, 1977, I was hired in Verdello, near Dalmine. I entered at the first level and reached the 6th: the maximum for someone like me who only had elementary school. My life wasn't simple, but believe me, I had everything. I'm happy. At just 9 years old, when dad Giulio and mom Maria separated, I immediately became an adult. At 11, I went to work as a bricklayer. Growing up was tough, but we made it".

Between trains and some cyclocross races: two world championships.

"In 1979 I made my world championship debut in Saccolongo, winning among amateurs. The following year, I won the first of my six national titles. In 1986, in Lembeek (Belgium), the second world title again among amateurs. In those years, Switzerland was the reference nation. Then attention shifted to Belgium and the Netherlands. We always struggled: sponsors don't understand the visibility that cyclocross can provide. And to think it's a very spectacular and consequently televisual specialty. In my time, races lasted up to an hour and a half, now the effort lasts about fifty minutes, which is why riders are much more explosive. What remains is the great utility that cross has even for those practicing road activities: look at Van Aert, Van der Poel, or Pidcock".

Happy birthday, dear Vito. Congratulations as always, every year, and more than ever. Sincere and authentic wishes, because you need them, because we need them. Every day, in every moment: always.