The Italian Championship in the group stage ended in a real surprise bombshell, as the top teams' aces were left dry and amateur Filippo Conca, a member of the Swatt Club, took victory. In the final battle, he beat Giro d'Italia stage winner Alessandro Covi (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) and Thomas Pesenti (Soudal Quick-Step Devo Team).
In fact, Conca is not a cardboard boy - he has previously ridden for Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team and Lotto Soudal, but the 26-year-old did not receive a professional contract for this season. At the end of last year, he gave an interview to the domestic media, where he talked about his activities: "Many pros found themselves without a contract, very few came back to the sport. Most of us are working now, I run a B&B in Lecco, I got a boatman's license to organize boat trips, and I want to open a bike rental shop." Conca also continued his university studies and eventually graduated with a degree in economics.
Meanwhile, Conca continued to train diligently, partly in the high mountains, focusing on one competition where he knew he could get maximum attention. During this long preparation, there were also memorable setbacks - for example, when he ran into a marmot on the descent from the Livigno ski resort and had a hard fall, which forced him to miss a week of training.
"I trained so hard. It was like training for a marathon," Conca said. "I didn't give up and after a week's break I started training again with purpose. I'm really happy. Happy that I won, but maybe even more so that I had the mental strength not to give up during those months," Conca said.
As for the hopes of reviving his professional career, having mainly acted as a helper in big teams, after he was told by Q36.5 last year that there was no longer a place for him, all that was left was to hope.
"I've been looking for a team for a long time, but nothing seemed to be happening. This was a unique opportunity and I'm glad I was able to take advantage of it. I came here with the goal of achieving a high place, even if my options were very limited. But it happened," Conca beamed.
Sembra una favola la storia di Filippo Conca, il ventiseienne che sorpresa si è laureato campione d'Italia di ciclismo su strada presentingandosi con una squadra amatoriale e senza sponsor pic.twitter.com/jLefZTYlb1
— Tg3 (@Tg3web) June 30, 2025
#Gortiza2025 🇮🇹 / Le moment où la modeste équipe Swatt Club comprend que 🇮🇹 Filippo Conca décroche le titre national 😅 pic.twitter.com/UK1xQO2MsL
— Renaud Breban (@RenaudB31) June 29, 2025
Imagina ser de un equipo amateur y convertirte en campeón de Italia 🇮🇹, sobre Ganna o Covi 🤯🤯 Grande Filippo Conca pic.twitter.com/fNQKHjDk60
— Ciclismo en Grande (@ciclismoengrand) June 30, 2025
