The Giro that goes up Italy arrives in the Marche and starts again the syllogism «Marche – Muri». The twelfth stage of the pink race will bring the runners from Martinsicuro to Fano for 193 kilometres.
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The stage is flat for the first 50 km, while the second part is dotted with walls and climbs until the finish. After a first part along the Adriatic, once you have passed Civitanova Marche you move away from the sea to tackle a route made up of continuous ups and downs with more or less difficult ups and downs, 10 can be cataloged (of which 4 classified as GPM). The last, unpublished climb of Monte Giove is located 9 km from the finish line and has gradients of over 10%.
THE ITALY OF THE GIRO
Starting point in Abruzzo of the Adriatica Cycle Route, Martinsicuro is a well-equipped seaside resort which owes its fortune to a deep beach of fine sand overlooking the Adriatic. His important past is testified by Charles V Tower – an imposing brick construction, with a quadrangular base, on three levels marked by two rounded stone string course frames – and by the Castellaccio, the ancient Frankish palace which stands out from the hills dominating the entire town of which it has become the symbol. Martinsicuro it also boasts a biotope where nature and fauna are preserved ideal for walking or cycling while observing rare botanical species and, with a bit of luck, some specimens of plover, a small shorebird that usually nests on beaches. While waiting for the runners to leave, it is worth a visit the exhibition “A devil of a champion, an angel of a man. The human adventure of Gino Bartali”, set up to pay homage to the unforgettable Tuscan champion.
After a long stretch at the edge of the sea, the race leaves the coast to head inland with its magnificent villages and home to numerous footwear companies, the soul of a lively production district well known abroad for the quality of its workmanship .
Recanati, the “native wild village” of Giacomo Leopardi takes you back to your school years. The visit can begin right from the residence of the “fabulous young man”, now a house-museum, where furnishings, furnishings and the library with over 20 thousand volumes have remained unchanged. Just outside the poet’s home there is the small square of the “Saturday of the village” and the house of “Silvia”. Not far away is the so-called Colle dell’Infinito, with a vast panoramic terrace. The Beniamino Gigli Museum is worth a visit dedicated to one of the greatest tenors of all time.
TO Castelfidardo music is still the protagonist in International Accordion Museum with around 150 instruments built by local masters between 1840 and 1968. Also curious are the sections dedicated to music in coins, the accordion in iconography and the accordion in postage stamps.
So it’s time to Osimosurrounded by a solid city wall that protects notable seventeenth-eighteenth century buildings and the Cathedral consecrated to San Leopardo, which amazes with its portico with three grandiose arches.
Even the medieval ones have been overcome Mondolfo – one of the “most beautiful villages in Italy” – we return to the Adriatic shore for the final sprint. Fano is a seaside city, inhabited for centuries by fishermen and sailors but also a city of art, proud of its long history, but also attentive to the ecological conservation of the environment and for this reason it has been awarded several times. It is nice to discover the different historical eras through the monuments that attest to the Roman Fano (with the Arch of Augustus and the Augustan Walls in the foreground), the medieval one (the splendid Malatesta Fortress) and, again, the Fano Renaissance with the Sangallo Bastion, the Church and cloister of San Paterniano, the churches of San Francesco and San Michele. The walk along the seafront is a worthy conclusion to an intense but unforgettable day.
