It’s been a memorable day for Team Calcagni, starring Carlo Calcagni, Colonel of the Role of Honor of the Italian Army, Victim of Duty and Mutilated for Service, who triumphed in Paris in the International Grand Prix of France bringing the flag of Italy to the podium, and Alessandro Patrono, who won the success in the 11th Genoese Valleys Cycling Rally, seizing the first overall victory of a career of more than 30 years.

A feat the result of passion, sacrifice and love, which Alessandro Patrono, 51, wanted to dedicate this feat to those who made this dream possible: “To my uncle Mimino, Cosimo Strafella from Salice Salentino (Lecce), who taught me how to pedal, who has been a father, brother and friend. To Colonel Carlo Calcagni, who welcomed me into his team and every day, with his example, teaches us what it means not to give up”.

“To my coach Davide Podestà, with whom we turned a game into a feat. To my friend Irish, who in 2022 believed in me when I no longer wanted to believe. And above all…to my Dad. Today, in the final turn, I felt a mysterious push, like a hand on my back. It was him. I saw him, I felt him. This victory is for you, Papa”.

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Those of Carlo Calcagni and Alessandro Partrono are two victories in two different places, united by the strength of love, the value of memory, and the motto “Never give up, despite everything and everyone, no matter what the cost”.

The national soccer team coached by Luciano Spalletti will not be able to count on Manuel Locatelli for the 2026 World Cup qualifying matches against Norway (Friday, June 6 away) and Moldova (Monday, June 9 at home). The Juventus midfielder has in fact decided, together with the Azzurri medical staff, to return home to treat the right ankle sprain suffered in Sunday’s training.

The decision was confirmed late in the afternoon, after the 1998-born player had undergone medical examinations to preliminarily assess the’extent of the injury. It is therefore the third name that Luciano Spalletti is forced to remove from the list of summoned players, after that of Alessandro Buongiorno (replaced by Luca Ranieri) and that of Francesco Acerbi, by personal choice of the interista.

The national team will face Norway in Oslo, at the Ullevaal Stadion, on Friday at 8:45 p.m. The Norwegians, who have missed the World Cup since 1998, won their first two qualifying matches against Moldova 5-0 and Israel 4-2. It is precisely the Moldovans who will be Italy&#8217s second opponents on Monday at the Mapei Stadium-Città del Tricolore in Reggio Emilia, also at 8:45 p.m.: after the drubbing against Haaland and co., the national team from the former Soviet republic lost at home to Estonia, 3-2.

Italy is still at zero games played in Group I because, while the first two days were going on, the Azzurri were engaged in the Nations League quarterfinals against Germany. Spalletti’s men&#8217s goal is to get into gear right away, to avoid further bitter surprises and regain a qualification they have been sending since the 2014 edition of the rainbow tournament.

The adventure of Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori in the mixed doubles at Roland Garros 2025 continues with a pinch of good luck: the pair that the two blues should have faced on Monday, the one composed of Britons Olivia Nicholls and Henry Pattern, in fact, forfeited before even taking the court in the quarterfinals, thus allowing the Italian pair to advance directly to the semifinals.

Errani, moreover, is still competing in the women’s doubles along with Jasmine Paolini, and will face the pair composed of Veronika Kudermetova and Elise Mertens, two other disappointments from the singles draw, on Tuesday, June 3, starting at 11 a.m. at the earliest. Vavassori, on the other hand, participated in the men’s doubles with Simone Bolelli, but the Italian duo did not get beyond the first round, losing to Matthew Ebden and John Peers.

The Sara Errani-Andrea Vavassori pair is definitely proven and boasts two successes at a high level, the first of which was at the 2024 US Open, where the two blues beat Taylor Townsend and Donald Young in two sets in the final. The Italian duo also won at Indian Wells 2025, overcoming Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Mate Pavic in the final act.

At the singles draw level at Roland Garros, on the other hand, Sara Errani surrendered to the final qualifying round, overcome by Germany&#8217s Anna-Lena Friedsam in three sets (the tie-break at the end of the last fraction being decisive), while Andrea Vavassori, number 313 in the ATP singles ranking, was able to concentrate on the two doubles tournaments, improving in the mixed event on last year&#8217s result, where she stopped in the second round paired with Russia&#8217s Liudmila Samsonova.