It’s the weekend of the Tour De France in Romagna. It was 1924 when for the first time an Italian cyclist, Ottavio Bottecchia, won the Grande Boucle. Exactly 100 years later, the emotion is repeated with a great all-Italian debut. The first stage on Saturday between Florence and Rimini, while on Sunday there will be the Cesenatico-Bologna, a journey that takes from Marco Pantani to the finish in San Luca. The three Italian days conclude with the Piacenza-Turin, on the roads that belonged to Fausto Coppi. Three stages through splendid landscapes, with routes that are already challenging for the athletes, and very fun for all the enthusiasts. Over the weekend, the roads of the Forlì and Cesena hinterland are ready to offer a great show.
The timetable of the first stage
The timetable of the second stage
The passage of the runners along the route will be preceded by two hours by the passage of the advertising caravan. The municipalities of our province affected by the route are Premilcuore, Santa Sofia, Galeata, Bagno di Romagna, Sarsina, Mercato Saraceno, Sogliano al Rubicone on Saturday; Cesenatico on Sunday. There may be disruption to traffic and accessibility to places and activities along the route and in the surrounding areas.
Citizens and operators-managers of businesses open on Saturday in the municipalities of Premilcuore, Santa Sofia, Galeata, Bagno di Romagna, Sarsina, Mercato Saraceno, Sogliano al Rubicone and in the municipalities bordering those listed, and on Sunday in the municipality of Cesenatico, are advised “to take due account of the traffic restrictions”. On site, the roads will be manned by the organization’s assistance personnel and law enforcement, who will be able to issue timely instructions to road users. The positioning of signs indicating the change in traffic began on Thursday.
The first step
The caravan of runners, coming from Florence, from the Valico dei Tre Faggi, will enter Romagna in the provincial territory at approximately 12.00, via Provincial Road 3 “Del Rabbi”, crossing the National Park of the Casentinesi Forests, Monte Falterona and Campigna. After passing the town of Premilcuore, it will continue to descend along the Rabbi valley until reaching Strada San Zeno. Here, having crossed the bridge over the Rabbi river, the race will take the Provincial Road 24 “Forche”, which will be followed until it reaches Val Bidente, in the town of Galeata. The Mountain Grand Prix will be held on the Forche pass.
After crossing the town of Galeata, the stage will continue onto Provincial Road 4 “Del Bidente”, which will be followed for a stretch, up to the center of Santa Sofia, to then turn towards Provincial Road 26 “Carnaio”, on which, at the pass, the Gran Premio della Montagna will be witnessed. After passing the Carnaio pass, the race will continue downhill to San Piero in Bagno, in the Savio Valley, to then join the SS71 Umbro Casentinese towards Cesena. It is then planned to pass through the towns of Sarsina and Mercato Saraceno where, after crossing the bridge over the Savio river, the Barbotto climb will be taken, Provincial Road 12 “Barbotto”, which will be followed all the way up to joining Provincial Road 11 “Sogliano”, towards Savignano di Rigo and then up to the border with the Province of Rimini at approximately 2.20 pm. The Gran Premio della Montagna will also be witnessed at the Barbotto pass.
The provincial roads involved
These are the sections of the provincial roads traveled by the cyclists. As regards the Provincial Road 3 “Del Rabbi”, it will be crossed by the group from kilometer 51+075 (start of jurisdiction, border with the Tuscany Region) to kilometer 27+700 (Strada San Zeno, intersection with the Provincial Road 24 “Forche”). The group will proceed along the Provincial Road 24 from kilometer 5+667 (Strada San Zeno, intersection with Provincial Road 3 “Del Rabbi”) to kilometer 0+000 (town of Galeata intersection with Via G. Matteotti). Then they will enter along the Bidentina, from kilometer 57+300 (town of Galeata, intersection with Via IV Novembre) to kilometer 51+100 (town of Santa Sofia, intersection with Via D. Alighieri).
A transit ban will be placed on these roads from 11am to 3.30pm, in both directions for all vehicles, with the sole exclusion of authorized persons, residents and all emergency vehicles and police forces carrying out of its functions; the ban on parking and stopping from 8pm on Friday to 3.30pm on Saturday in both directions with forced removal on the roadway, on the shoulder and on the grassy verge adjacent to the sides of the roadway.
The group will travel along the entire Provincial Road 26 “Carnaio”, from kilometer 0 (town center of Santa Sofia, intersection with Via D. Alighieri) to kilometer 15+616 (town center of San Piero in Bagno, intersection with Strada Statale 71), and then tackle the climb of Barbotto (Provincial Road 12), from kilometer 0 (town center of Mercato Saraceno, intersection with Strada Statale 71) to kilometer 4+682 (Bar Ristorante Barbotto, intersection with Provincial Road 11 “Sogliano”). From here they will proceed along the Provincial Road Sogliano from kilometer 30+300 (intersection with Provincial Road 79 “Rio Petra”) to kilometer 32+542 (end of jurisdiction, border with the Province of Rimini)
On these roads, a transit ban will be in place from 10 am to 4:30 pm, in both directions for all vehicles, with the sole exception of authorized vehicles and all emergency vehicles and police forces in the performance of their duties; while from 10 am to 12 pm transit remains permitted for residents, bicycles and motorcycles. A parking and stopping ban is planned from 8 pm on Friday to 4:30 pm on Saturday in both directions with forced removal from the roadway, on the hard shoulder and on the grassy verge adjacent to the sides of the roadway;
The second stage
The advertising caravan will leave Cesenatico at 10.15 and will enter the provincial territory of Ravenna at 10.46 in the direction of Cervia and Milano Marittima. No provincial roads in the Province of Forlì-Cesena will be involved. On site, the roads will be monitored by the organization’s assistance staff and the police, who will be able to issue timely instructions to road users.
