Spectacular stage at the Giro d’Italia in the Marche, triumph for Fano. Seri rewards Alaphilippe, crowd on the course and at the finish line

FANO Alaphilippe wins, the Giro wins, Fano wins. It was known that all the requirements were in place for this twelfth stage of the 2024 edition of the pink race to be a success, but that it could take on the characteristics of a triumph was simply a hope, albeit perhaps a well-placed one. Virtually nothing was missing and therefore not even the sun, despite weather forecasts that even predicted a bit of rain and leaden skies in the morning around the time of arrival.

On the run for 126 kilometers

What brightened the day, sportingly speaking, was Julian Alaphilippe, twice world champion and firmly at the top of the fans’ tastes, for his talent but also for his inimitable and even slightly crazy way of interpreting racing. In a 193 kilometer stage which due to its design had been compared to Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the French champion, who had a fair amount of classics, including Milan-Sanremo, escaped after about fifty kilometers and did not it was made easier to recover, attacking the “walls” of the Marche region with the healthy complicity of Mirco Maestri, who then had to raise the white flag at the end. The embrace between the two at the end of the race, with the winner’s gratitude reciprocated by the most beautiful declaration possible from the Italian (“going on the run with him was like winning”), magnified a feat that observers did not hesitate to praise among the most beautiful of the Giro. In short, the Martinsicuro – Fano, marked by frenetic pace (almost 47 kilometers on average, so much so that Alaphilippe crossed the finish line significantly ahead of schedule) seriously risks going down in history as the most popular national-sporting-event beloved and ancient, told by images that have done ample justice to the beauties of the city and the territory.

Praise to Mondolfo

Starting from Mondolfo, which has been praised for its title as one of the most beautiful villages in Italy and its role as the cradle of the game of ball with the bracelet, and before entering a city whose history has been explored with historical rigor lived, from the goddess Fortuna and the Arch of Augustus up to Vitruvius and the recent discoveries that have validated the thesis that perhaps the Basilica really exists. Of the hills, the port, the seafront and the historic center, thanks also to the shots from above, little has escaped, except perhaps the Camaldolese Hermitage. On the other hand, it was possible to clearly perceive the size of the crowd that began to hang out in the arrival area in the morning and then massed along the entire city route. From an Alpine stage the frame of enthusiasts, very disciplined, on the very difficult climb towards Monte Giove along that Via Patuccia “which I would never have imagined in my life to see crossed by the Giro” confided almost emotionally a resident who has always loved cycling.

The assault on Monte Giove

The sea of ​​people upon arrival did not disperse even at the end of the stage, forming the backdrop, together with the Bastione del Nuti and Porta Maggiore, for a “stage trial” in which the importance of the event that had just taken place was celebrated .

© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Read the full article at
Adriatic Courier