The SWATT Club and the Two Great Opportunities for the Rebirth of Italian Cycling

The great fortune of Carlo Beretta – founder and president of the SWATT Club, the team of the current Italian road champion – wasn’t the clothing line, nor the aggressive and competitive communication style, nor the strong focus on building a community.

Many groups born on social media in recent years share those same elements.

No – there’s one thing that truly sets the SWATT Club apart from all the others:

They are incredibly "kompetent".

And yes, that K is a direct reference to the podcast Ciclismo KOMpetente by Gaffuri and Il Bandito.

Their extraordinariness lies precisely in this: by reading, studying, obsessively learning with the bold goal of being amateurs who ride faster than professionals – they actually pulled it off.

The Crisis of Italian Cycling

The crisis of Italian cycling isn’t that the national champion’s jersey won’t be seen at top-level races, or that many of our stars (aside from Milan and Covi) couldn’t care less about fighting for the national title, as if it no longer meant anything.

The real crisis is something else.

It’s absurd that a group of passionate amateurs, with zero budget, has managed to accumulate enough skills and knowledge to outperform many better-funded, better-structured, more "institutional" teams.

Italian cycling’s crisis is a crisis of competence.

1. Technical and Scientific Competence

The first area is technical and scientific competence.

I’m not talking about World Tour teams, their skilled mechanics, excellent coaches, or sports directors.

I’m talking about youth categories: Cadets, Juniors, and U23s.

I’m talking about the many teams that rely on unpaid volunteers to train and race with their riders.

These are lean, under-resourced teams, lacking properly trained coaches, nutritionists, and biomechanic experts who can help young riders make that leap in quality and become the next Remco, Ayuso, or Del Toro – riders who were already performing on the international stage at that age.

Today, Juniors are effectively the gateway to professional cycling. Yet many of those tasked with teaching them how to race aren’t even up to date on what it means to be a pro cyclist in 2025.

This grassroots level is left completely adrift. Some teams are strong and well-organized – and get results. But many talented riders will go nowhere simply because they landed on the “wrong” team.

There should be solid, cutting-edge research and development programs sponsored by the federation, with constant exchange between pro and youth-level coaches. This works in basketball, volleyball, and tennis. Why not apply it to cycling too?

2. Organizational and Communication Competence

The second area is organizational and communication competence.

Sure, not everyone can wear the iconic white skinsuit like SWATT, but the model of slapping a sponsor logo on a jersey to raise funds is outdated, dead, and needs a total rethink.

Cycling is a sport built on advertising. Yet major Italian companies don’t invest in teams.

Why do businesses spend hundreds of thousands on the Giro-E but give nothing to those racing the real competitions?

The answer: many teams today have such an outdated and uninspiring image that no brand wants to be associated with them.

The federation should help teams find sustainable funding strategies and facilitate the entry of wealthy sponsors – not just at the pro level, but also in U23 and youth categories. With real funding, we can finally move past the volunteer model and give our youth teams a real boost in quality.

This also means teaching teams how to communicate better, build a brand, and grow a community around it.

In other words: how to become attractive for advertising investment – the true fuel of this sport.

In summary: science and communication.

These are the two great opportunities Italian cycling must seize to become great once again.

At the finish line in Gorizia, the federation had the winning model right in front of them.

The road is clear.

Now it’s time to pedal.