Giovanni Pascoli (1855 - 1912), an Italian poet, talked about the Poetica del fanciullino (Poetics of the child) which he described as the unceasing capability to get stunned by the world, typical of childhood.
Pascoli opposed both the renunciation of self-analysis and the abandonment of the self-centered point of view, in favor of a semi-irrational comfort which the poet gives himself through poetry.
What Nibali did yesterday on the Poggio was exactly the same, he applied the Poetics of the child to cycling.
In these days, dominated by Watts, computers, data analysis and science, Nibali abandoned both a strict data analysis and a self-centered point of view, attacking with an irrational comfort, just based on his own sensation powered by the magic climb on which he was, the Poggio.
The moment Nibali crossed the finish line, every single witness of this incredible feat started crying, the child inside us had been woken up by this incredible champion that showed the world that, sometimes, a poet can still beat science.
Chapeau Nibali and thank you for waking up our inner fanciullino.
