Easter Monday of great cycling in Melegnano. On Monday (departure at 9am from Via Roma, also home to the arrival after 119.6km between 11.45am and 12.10pm) the “ritual” of the “Grand Prix of Forgiveness” will be renewed, a race created in 1959 and “reborn” on year passed thanks to the Sangiulianese Cycling Union: what is unprecedented is the status of an international UCI race, which this weekend will bring 29 teams and 174 riders from 17 different countries to face one of the first important events of the season on a global level for Juniores (17 and 18 year olds), a sort of category “Milan-Sanremo” which will also encompass almost the entire Lodi area, with a highlight on the Banini hills and a final sprint which is not a precluded outcome but which remains anything but obvious, also in light of the forecast weather conditions, between wind and rain. Among the starters, the name of Paul Fietzke stands out, reigning German national champion and last year also silver in Glasgow (Scotland) at the Road World Championships: the Teutonic runner will have to face a host of potential athletes who are excellent interpreters of the one-day classics. Among those who dream of carving out some space for themselves (in front of the coach of the National Juniores Dino Salvoldi) there will also be the standard bearer of the Pedale Casalese Armofer Christian Fantini.
RECENT PRECEDENTS IN SOUTH MILAN – In addition to three starts of the professional Milan-Turin (2015, 2016 and 2017), international cycling in San Giuliano was the protagonist three times in the 2000s with the Giro delle Regioni for Elite and Under 23 (formerly Amateurs). The short stage race ended on 1 May 2006 in San Giuliano: the final stage, won by Oscar Gatto, started from Lodi, where the day before the Ukrainian Dmytro Grabovskyy (potentially a champion who later had a short-lived career : he would have died at just 31 years old in 2017 in tragic circumstances) legitimized the final success with a time trial success. The Tour of the Regions also ended in San Giuliano in 2002 and 2000: 24 years ago the final success of the stage race went to Graziano Gasparre, a rider from Guardamiglio.
