Tuscany protagonist of this year’s Italian championships, There will be 25 titles up for grabs on road, track and offroad during the summer. And in fact the whole thing was renamed “Tuscany Tricolor 2024”.
Just today in Florence, at Palazzo Vecchio, the tricolor of the professionals was presented, which will basically follow the streets of Forever Alfredo, in honor of the great Alfredo Martini, former cyclist and historic blue city. Today he sits on “his flagship”. Daniele Bennatiwhich in turn presents us with the route for next June 23rd in more detail.
In the name of Alfredo
As mentioned, the Italian route follows to a large, very large extent that of the Per Semper Alfredo, what mainly changes is the distance: 230 kilometers for the tricolor, around 180 for Per Semper Alfredo.
If the first hundred kilometers is almost identical between the two races, The route that goes towards Mugello varies a bit, in particular towards the towns of Scarperia and Sant’Agata. This ring is unique but a little wider, in the sense that it avoids the second ring which passed through Barberino del Mugello. This means that the first real climb of the tricolor route is that of the Croci di Calenzano.
What changes the most is the ending. The hill climb (via Baroncoli) will be tackled five times and not three as in Per Semper Alfredo. We will then cover 4 laps of 19 kilometers each with this tough climb between Calenzano and Sesto, where the arrival is expected.
«I had already seen, or rather chosen, this path in February – Martini’s heir, Daniele Bennati, confided to us – I had observed it and I had made my requests, such as to lengthen it. What can I say: it’s a fairly challenging route. The final climb goes up in spurts, often even in double figures. The road is therefore technical, also because it is narrow. And the same goes for the descent. So from the top to the finish there isn’t much breathing room and you could escape with just a few seconds.”
Path for many
We therefore start from Florence, the capital of cycling given that a week later it will see the departure of the Tour de France. The path chosen byUC Larcianese, the organizing company, is typical of classical, wavy and nervous. It is no coincidence that the winners of the Per Semper Alfredo were people like Marc Hirschi, just to name one.
«This path – Bennati goes on – it is not similar to the Olympic one, whose longest climb is one kilometre, nor to the World Cup one. And then establishing from this route, from this race, which is held in June, who will have to be competitive in September would be complicated.
«Many athletes get there through different routes: those who leave the Tour of Italy and held out, and those who are ready for the Tour but perhaps have raced less. So reconciling the Italian peak with that of the world championship is tough.”
Bennati insists on the argument that in some way it was also necessary to “adapt” to the possibilities offered by the territory. And in Tuscany, as we know, this is wavy. But the city also says that it is right to offer a route open to many runners. A route that is not too hard, so as to favor only climbers, nor flat so as to exalt only sprinters.
Word to Velo
And I time them? Tuscany will also host the time trials a few days before (19-20 June). And the time trial has a different value in relation to the two summer events: the Olympics and the World Championships.
«I tried – he said Marco Velo, responsible for the time trial – a route that was as similar as possible to that of the Paris time trials, whose course is flat. I asked for this mileage: 35 kilometers for men and 25 for women and Under 23s.”
Time trial in the Grosseto area therefore, no altimetric or technical difficulty. But what will the wind be like, given that we are close to the coast?
«In fact – continues Velo – the plan is like a large square: once the wind will be in your favor, once against it and once sideways. So it kind of cancels out. I just hope it doesn’t vary too much over the course of the race. But we are not in a great Giro in which the first one leaves maybe before lunch and the last one leaves late in the afternoon. Here in the space of half an hour everyone is running.”
