Oh, Italy, how beautiful you are!
And a radiant sports nation, from football to hundred meters to cycling.
There are experts who believe that if there had been world championships in long-distance knitting and dumpling eating this year, then Italians would have won there too.
Commentators in the country raved this week about the new team spirit that has pulled the nation together on their boots and made the country's athletes perform exceptionally well.
And honestly, we are happy for them and don't really feel like spitting the lucky one into the minestrone in their Ristorante Fantastico, but there is no other way.
The question of the prize is: Can all of this be done with the right things?
It is tight at the top, and sudden increases in performance, whether in the case of individuals or nations, are unfortunately suspect.
It will be necessary to take a closer look in the country that Michele Ferrari produced, called "Dottore Epo", which gave Lance Armstrong the turbo.
And his notorious teacher Francesco Conconi, the initiator of a previous Italian sports miracle.
Apparently there are always those.