After the election, the new mayor of Florence Sara Funaro was immediately called to deal with a new important commitment: to give the best possible welcome and open the doors of her city to the Tour de France 2024. In fact, in the Florentine capital, thanks to the fundamental work carried out before his inauguration by his predecessor Daniele Nardella, it was in fact the turn of the inauguration of the Grande Boucle number 111, an event of exceptional international importance which the Florentine mayor, as he told us at the Cascine Park, welcomed with enthusiasm and full awareness of what it meant.
The feeling was that there was no better city to host an event of this magnitude. Your impressions, your emotions about it?
Florence has always had a very strong connection with cycling. We have had great champions in the past, starting with our Gino Bartali, so hosting the Grande Partenza of the Tour for the first time in Italy and Florence is not only an indescribable emotion but it is a historic moment that will remain in the annals. It is also a signal for the world of sport and for the attention we must have on this sector, a very important signal for our city but, equally, also for sustainability because we are talking about a sporting event but, through cycling and bicycles, we also talk about environmental sustainability.
The Grand Depart obviously also represents an opportunity at a territorial level for the visibility of the region, of the city.
The return is not indifferent and for this I would like to thank the outgoing mayor Dario Nardella who strongly wanted this moment. I remember the Cycling World Championships that were held in Florence in 2013: from there the work to bring the Tour de France to Florence began. The decision to make this happen was also taken during the pandemic and thinking in a moment of closure like that about the relaunch and rebirth of our city was truly far-sighted. This is an opportunity for sport but also for the worldwide visibility of our city.
What is your relationship with the bicycle and cycling?
I am not a sports cyclist but I am someone who loves to ride a bike. Since I was a little girl I have always ridden a bike around my city because Florence is a city made for cycling and as mayor I will do everything I can, as we have already started to do, to encourage the use of sustainable mobility by bike.
And the Tour de France in this sense could represent a driving force…
Of course. We have already started both with the creation of many cycle paths in the city (activities that we will continue to do) and also with all the incentives for the use of bicycles such as the one for bike to work. We will continue in this direction and we will do it also by keeping the prices of bike sharing sustainable, this is a priority for us.
(Photo Federico Guido)
