Fair enough but why is it then presented as Gianetti quote and not something Cipollini said? It was all over the news:
While Tadej Pogacar has a pretty flawless Tour de France, the same cannot be said about his teammate Juan Ayuso. The Spaniard with a Vuelta a Espana podium finish in his palmares was intended to stay...
cyclinguptodate.com
I don't speak Italian but translating the article:
Mario Cipollini analizza per noi la tappa numero 17 della Grande Boucle
www.tuttobiciweb.it
The way this reads to me it indeed was an interview with Cipollini but the journalist talking to Cipollini raised the question in which he, the journalist, told Cipollini on what Gianetti said to him, the journalist? To that question Cipollini responded in the lines of for sure Galibier left a "bad sign difficult to erase". This is the translation i got so native speaker can correct it.
So basically what you are questioning is the validity of journalist claim? Why? Is that journalist known for that?
Anyway, what are we saying then? Gianetti was happy with Ayuso, Cipollini and his sentiment toward Ayuso in the article was positive, fans all over the internet supported Ayuso? Why on earth would then the journalist in question ask such question and got a respond as he did? So although we can't be 100% sure the journalist was teling the truth i don't see any special reason he would lie about it. So best to leave this one to ones personal decision on what to believe.