Punctual like spring (looking at the weather you wouldn’t think so), the month of May gives us a sporting, social and cultural event, authentically popular like the Cycling Tour of Italy reached its 107th edition this year. Twenty-one stages, three weeks up and down the country to tell the story of a country and draw sporting achievements, making young and old alike dream of following the race on the roadside or on television.
The design of the Giro
Departure scheduled today from Venaria Reale to end in Rome on May 26th after an initial descent towards the south, the return to the north towards the Alps and the conclusion, as for three years now, in the capital.
A Giro, that at least in design, it appears balanced because it offers more time trial kilometres, over 70 in total (there haven’t been so many in years) divided into two fractions that can make the difference and the usual load of climbs but better distributed and not almost exclusively in the last week, with six uphill finishes on stages 2-8-10-15-16 and 17 respectively. There were limited arrivals for sprintersscattered here and there and many pitfall stages including a particularly feared stage in Tuscany on the dirt roads.
Brescia will play a leading role in the route of this Giro because at the end of the second week two decisive stages will be held in our territory: the second time trial, from Castiglione to Desenzano del Garda, and the following day the big Alpine stage from Manerba del Garda to Livigno with the unprecedented finish line at Mottolino on the ski slopes.
The Italians expected to be protagonists
If on paper the Giro promises to be balanced, as always the riders make the race good or bad. In a cycling world that has become increasingly international, even though it is called the Giro d’Italia and is the most important race for national cyclists, There will only be 43 Italians at the start, an absolute negative recordalthough almost all the best will be present.
Since 2016 (Nibali’s success) we have no longer won the pink race, never such a long fast, since 2021 we have no longer been on the podium (Caruso also present in this edition)
There will only be two Brescians at the start, Alessandro Tonelli and Cristian Scaroni who nevertheless have all it takes to do well.
Today’s stop
As mentioned, we start today from Venaria Reale, the majestic former Savoy palace which was already the scene of a start in the 2011 Giro d’Italia, won by Contador, but awarded to the late Michele Scarponi due to a posthumous disqualification.
Today’s stage will be short but already demanding141 kilometers to get to Turin after having climbed Superga (from the softer side) to remember the 75th anniversary of the plane crash that involved the great Turin, and the Maddalena hill (7 km at 6.6%) as well as a climb of 1.5 km at 9% in the final which should exclude sprinters from the prediction.
