If there were a championship for the most daring and distant fan club trip, Gianmarco Garofoli would be at the top of the rankings and would be nearly unbeatable. Of course, all riders have fan groups, often with flags and matching jerseys, but who would be willing to travel thousands of kilometers from home? His fans did it and flew all the way to Oman to support their idol.

We must admit, at first even we didn't believe it, but then we saw it with our own eyes and understood it was true. Imagine the scene: an atrocious heat worthy of Puglia in summer months, the desert, nothing around, and then suddenly an Italian flag on a cap, a large printed text on a t-shirt: "Gianmarco Garofoli fanclub". It was Jonas, a Belgian colleague, who pointed out what I thought was a complete illusion, with a joke "you Italians always make yourselves known". Then I started observing three men wandering around the Soudal Quick Step Team area, admiring the bikes and exchanging opinions. I didn't yet know that soon I would get to know Gianluca, Luca, and Alessandro, and especially their passion for cycling.

They left Italy in three, following a meticulously planned attack strategy: night flight direct from Malpensa to Muscat, arrival before 7 am and then already ready to attend the first stage of the Tour of Oman. Leading the small expedition could only be dad Gianluca, the true animator of the fan club officially born on October 6, 2024 (Gianmarco's twenty-second birthday), who literally lights up at the name tuttoBICI and starts telling us about his passion. "I've always been passionate about cycling and when my son started practicing it, I was extremely happy. Since he was in youth categories, I started following him, and then you know, you start with the first races and it's hard to stop. In August during the Vuelta I took advantage of my vacation to go back and forth. I lost count of how many trips I made, but it was all for my Gianmarco. It's right that someone supports him up close".

In Oman, along with Gianluca, Luca Cossu and Alessandro Coletta also arrived, the latter being the vice president of the fan club and a long-time friend of his father. As soon as they landed at the airport, they literally "hijacked" an Omani taxi, as they joke, loaded all the luggage onto the vehicle, and rushed to the first stage. For the next few days, the plan is to rent a car to follow the race everywhere and then, after the weekend, return home with nice memories, but above all with the pride of having supported their idol on another continent.

It's the beginning of the season, and the Gianmarco Garofoli Fan Club's plans to follow their idol are already defined: they'll return to Spain and then to Italy for home races, with a special eye on Strade Bianche, for which they predict a bus trip with about a hundred people. "Here in Oman it's just the warm-up, but we brought the entire official outfit, even the flags. We want to be recognized" they tell us. We're forced to say goodbye before the press van abandons us in the middle of nowhere, but we've already understood that besides us, there's another piece of Italy in Oman, or rather, a true peloton from the Marche region.