«Everyone knows Florence, but have you seen how many beautiful things there are to admire in Piacenza?». Former Italian coach Davide Cassani makes a splash for our city during the live Rai broadcast of the start of the third stage. The hope is that, far from Italy, someone connected (very) early to really see our city from above and the view of our architectural and artistic “treasures”.
A historical page for our Piacenza is already in the archives, which has become Plaisance for a day. The Tour de France on the morning of July 1st was willingly embraced by our reality, before reaching Turin (a 230 kilometer flat stage) and returning within the natural national borders.
On a Monday morning, already in the early hours of the Tour’s headquarters, in Viale Malta, people flocked in crescendo. The merchandising markets were taken by storm: everyone wanted a hat or a yellow t-shirt. The most daring ones risked wearing the polka dot uniform of “best climber”.
Under the stage it was exciting to see all the champions of cycling today up close. Vingegaard’s gaunt face, Pogacar’s laughter. Lots of thunderous applause for Van der Poel, Evanepoel and Van Aert. The Colombians from Piacenza who came to support Egan Bernal as well as the Ecuadorians for Richard Carapaz. Alberto Bettiol’s beautiful tricolor jersey. And again: the Yates brothers, Campenaerts’ moustache and Geschke’s beard, Cavendish’s desire to leave another mark.
Many Italians came from all over the North, but also many Europeans who traveled to Piacenza to support their favorites from the start, such as Slovenians and Danes. At the “start” relaxed faces: the Tour in the city center was a catwalk with the time trial stopped. The official start was at the entrance to the Trebbia bridge. So the spectators had a few more moments to enjoy the passage of the Grande Boucle.
A great organizational effort, that of Piacenza, to host the start of the stage. All the hotels had been sold out for months. The police and emergency services are prepared for any eventuality. Volunteering got underway as always, while the local police also drew on agents from the province and the rest of Emilia. The effort was rewarded: there were no hitches and Piacenza passed the test, managing to organize a stage start of the Tour de France. If they had told us a few years ago that our city would be the protagonist of such an event, we would not have believed it.
