Ravenna, 1 July 2024 – After two years of waiting, the province of Ravenna has finally been able to embrace the Tour de France: the yellow caravan yesterday crossed the municipalities of Cervia, Ravenna, Russi, Faenza, Brisighella and Riolo Terme between two wings of the public, from the Adriatic to the Apenninessurrounded by different landscapes but united by the same omnipresent yellow color.
The protest staged by the ‘angry flood victims’ of Faenza (Photo Tedioli)
The stage Cesenatico-Bolognawon solo by the Frenchman Kévin Vaquelin, had its kilometer zero right on the Cervia seafront, where the shots of the international director took up the colossal six letters that make up the name of the city, composed on the beach with sunbeds and tables: a scenography who is a candidate for the prize that the organization awards to the best choreography.
From Cervia the group continued along the Romea to Ravennawhere cyclists found another crowd to welcome them: in the absence of top-level Italian talents (there are now only seven compatriots in the race), there were many shouts of encouragement addressed to the yellow jersey Romain Bardet, 33 years old at his last participation, much loved by fans of the two wheels. After crossing the plain the Tour arrived in Faenza: here since the early hours of the morning about a hundred ‘angry flood victims’ had gathered in Piazzale Sercognani, promoters of a protest for failure to keep promises about the 100% compensation for those affected by the flood; the banners hung by the protesters – who arrived in the square after a long ride through the flooded neighborhoods – were unequivocal: in one they even proposed furnishing the ministers’ house with just six thousand euros. Piazzale Sercognani was not covered by the Tour, but the protest was told shortly after by the two commentators of the race, one of whom is none other than Davide Cassani from Faenza.
At the end of the crossing of Faenza the group reached the first two climbs of the day. On Monticino, in Brisighella, and on Gallisterna, just upstream from Riolo Terme, the amount of spectators crowded there for hours was worthy of the climbs that dot the south of France. The first to travel on the climbs was the Norwegian Jonas Abrahamsen, who was attracted from the ranking for the best climber. The shots of the international director are very scenic, having long lingered on the panorama of Brisighella, on the gullies and on the Apennine panorama that surrounds Gallisterna.
