There are those who will say that it is too easy for a champion like him even if he is now advanced in years. There are those who will say that former professionals should not race with amateurs because, even if they no longer compete, they remain a world apart. There are those who will say that we must resign ourselves to the passing of time and that there is a time for everything…Amen. But Mario Cipollini And Mario Cipollini“King Lion” when he raced on a bike and “King Lion” also in his everyday life, which now sees him busy with completely different entrepreneurial activities. So the fact that at 57 years old (and 22 years after his World Championship victory in Zolder) he is wearing a rainbow jersey again, as an amateur, at the Masters World Championships being held these days in Aalborg, Denmark, remains news. And it is the Tuscan champion who this morning won the time trial in the M6 ​​category (55 to 59 years old) covering the 32.2 km course in 40’58”, at an average of 47.580. “But look at what I’ve started doing at 57 years old – he wrote yesterday on his social media – I’m taking part in the Masters World Championship, that is, the one where those slightly older gentlemen who try to imitate champions race… I can tell you that my passion for this sport always surprises me a little. People who come from every corner of the world to live this experience, I have the feeling that everyone is challenging themselves and not their opponents and you can feel it from their approaches and looks”. The years and seasons pass but the passion remains. Above all, the class of a champion who, after having won almost 190 races in his career including 42 stages at the Giro d’Italia, 13 at the Tour, a Milan-Sanremo and a world championship, still wants to ride and have fun. Because in the end this is what it is all about. And who are we to judge…