The city is buzzing with the start of the Grande Boucle. On Saturday the 171 cyclists will travel through the streets of the historic centre, which has been besieged for days by fans and cycling enthusiasts, as well as thousands of tourists, for an initial catwalk, then the start of the first 206 km stage which will end in Rimini.
Purple, the dominant color in Florence, has been paired with yellow for days. There is no twinning between Fiorentina and another soccer team. The dominant yellow is that of the Tour de France that took over the Tuscan capital this summer weekend.
A tribute to the Tuscan city and to Italy by the Grande Boucle which has decided to start the 111th edition of the Tour from our country, for the first time in the history of this sporting event.
And Florence, on Saturday at lunchtime, will once again show the world its beauties. On one side the jewels of the Florentine Renaissance, on the other the talents of international cycling who in these days of permanence in the city have been enraptured by the incredible artistic and architectural richness of the Tuscan capital.
“What a sight here, my goodness!“, exclaimed Mark Cavendish as soon as he stepped on stage, on the eve of the Tour in which he is aiming for his 35th stage victory to beat the record, so far only equalled, of the ‘cannibal’ Eddy Merckx.
Lots of yellow, bright sun and African temperatures
Bright sunshine in Florence, after days of rain. A yellow sun, paired with the race leader’s jersey, and which brought the perceived temperature to almost 35 degrees with humidity close to 60%.
Tourists, as usual in their thousands through the streets of the centre, gasp through the historic center to reach the symbolic places of the city such as the Duomo, Piazza della Signoria, Ponte Vecchio and Piazza Santa Croce. Precisely in this last location, near the basilica of the same name, the Fan Zone was set up, stormed by hundreds of fans, tourists and onlookers.
Error fixed
“Finally the Tour has righted a mistake, never having started from Italy“said the director of the race, Christian Prudhomme, according to whom the Grand Départ from Florence “It’s the way to pay homage to the great champions who made cycling and the Tour great“. Among them the greatest Florentine champion, Gino Bartali, winner of the Grande Boucle in 1938 and 1948.
Almost everywhere in the city, near the main tourist attractions, the Tour organization has installed stands and meeting points. An exhibition was also set up at the Florence Cathedral to celebrate the Grande Boucle. From Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali to the pirate Marco Pantani, up to today’s champions, Mark Cavendish and Tadej Pogačar. Eleven giant mega marbles to dedicate another tribute to the Tour de France and the departure from Florence. It’s the show’Karl Kopinski, postpone the yellow‘.
Catwalk and then off
The official start of the race is expected around midday when the athletes will move from Parco delle Cascine for the start in Piazza Signoria, with a breathtaking passage from Ponte Vecchio, Palazzo Pitti, the passage to Piazzale Michelangelo and then the descent towards the southern border of the city where the group will take the roads to the Tuscan-Romagnolo Apennines.
The 176 cyclists, after the parade through the streets of the historic center, will reach Cascine, where the 206 km competitive stage will actually start and end in Rimini.
“100 years after Ottavio Bottecchia’s first success, the Tour pays homage to Italian cycling with the Grand Départ from Florence – said the president of the cycling federation, Cordiano Dagnoni, greeting the participants – For three days Italy will be at the center of an event of global importance, which will allow us to admire the beauty of our country and the warmth of a people who have always been linked to cycling”.
”It is the first time that the Tour starts from Italy: I hope it’s not the first and the last but there are other opportunities in the future”, the wish of the French ambassador to Italy Martin Briens.
”The Tour is the third most followed sporting event in the world, with a following of over a billion viewers – concluded the ambassador – The fact that the 111th edition starts from Florence and Tuscany, in homage to its great champions Bartali and Nencini, can only further strengthen the already close relationships of friendship and collaboration, on a tourist, cultural and gastronomic level, between France and Italy and their regions. It is no coincidence that this year the Tour will end not in Paris but in Nice which is the most Italian city in France”.
