Giulio Ciccone's victory at the Trofeo Laiglia had little impact on a busy race weekend, but the sight of the 25-year-old in Italian National Team colors at the opening race of the Italian calendar was symbolic for Il Bel Paese, highlighted the rise of the next generation of Italian male riders.

Ciccone's new teammate, Trek-Segafredo's Vincenzo Nibali, stands out as the most successful Italian rider of his generation, as do Elia Viviani, Alberto Viettiol, Fabio Aru, and Davide Formolo, Matteo Trentin also represented Italy under the Tricolore flag. However, numerous doping scandals, the absence of a men's WorldTour team since 2016, and the globalization of cycling in the last decade have weakened Italian cycling.

Italian women's cycling is proportionally stronger than the men's sport, with the women's WorldTour team Ale BTC Ljubljana, Marta Bastianelli, Letizia Paternoster, Elisa Longo Borghini, and Elena Cecchini having great success. But there is also growing enthusiasm for a new generation of promising young Italian male riders. A headline in Tuesday's La Gazzetta dello Sport says it all. Ciccone Leads Golden Generation, Finally Makes a New Start."

The Italian sports newspaper listed many of the 20 or so next generation Italian riders who have stepped up to the World Tour level in 2020 or have shown themselves to be world class at the under-23 level.

Ciccone led the new generation at age 25, winning a stage at the Giro d'Italia in 2019 and confirming his potential by wearing the yellow jersey at the Tour de France.La Gazzetta dello Sport has also listed the 2020 He will spend time with Nibali at Trek-Segafredo in 2020 and 2021, which he describes as a master's program in Grand Tour racing.

Track pursuit and time triallist Filippo Ganna (Team Ineos) is also considered a future star and hour record candidate, while Eduardo Affini (Mitchelton Scott), sprinter Matteo Moschetti (Trek-Segafredo) , 2019 under-23 European champion Alberto Dainese (Team Sunweb), Andrea Bagioli (Deceuninck-Quick Step), and under-23 world champion Samuele Battistella (NTT Pro Cycling) are also highly rated.

Some athletes further down the development pipeline are. Junior time trial world champion Antonio Tiberi, who is with the Colpac-Barran Continental team this year, is already signed with Trek-Segafredo through 2021. Giovanni Areotti, the 20-year-old who finished second in the Tour de Lavenir, will again be with Cycling Team Friuli ASD before stepping up to the professional level. The paper also lists Alessio Martinelli, Andrea Piccolo, Alessandro Fanciello, Antonio Puppio, and Alessio Acco, who ride for Alberto Contador-Ivan Basso's training team.

"Italy is the only country with seven riders under the age of 23 on its WorldTour team, and 11 of our riders are among the 100 youngest riders. Italian national coach Davide Cassani told La Gazzetta dello Sport, "It means that our development base is working.

"It is true that we have no men's WorldTour team and only three professional teams, but we have 55 riders on the WorldTour team.

Cassani has been instrumental in the resurgence of the under-23 Giro d'Italia and Italian track teams, encouraging leading teams to step up to the continental level rather than pursue easy success in local races. Cassani regularly leads the Italian national team in races throughout Italy, giving additional races to leading athletes when needed and providing important experience to young talent.

"Stepping up to the World Tour is not always the best option. If a rider isn't ready, they end up just filling a hole and ultimately losing their place. Ciccone suffered in his early years as a climber, but he has gradually matured in Bardiani and is now ready to compete with the best at the World Tour level. Let's hope the next generation will follow in his footsteps."