" Today I lost 15 years of my life in just 6 hours : one of the hardest days on the bike ever, an excruciating suffering. Everyone's feeling was extreme: we struggled a lot, perhaps also due to the weather... it was a race at the limit of our strength . As expected, the key point was on the climb outside the circuit. There I managed to manage myself well: I knew I shouldn't follow the attacks, but rather ride back. I rode the wall well and the sensations were positive , but in a race like this, it only takes a moment to fade. We gave it our all." These are the words of Giulio Ciccone , speaking to Eurosport, at the end of the world championship race, which he finished in sixth place.

" When Remco attacked, I made a mistake following him : staying on his wheel on the flats was worse than going uphill," he explained, "a mistake I paid for. We have to be realistic: we gave everything we could give . Maybe a top five finish would have had a different flavour, but I have no regrets: I'm satisfied with my performance and the team's work. We're a good group and we were close in the race : I want to thank all my teammates for this."

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