The Tour de France today paid homage to Marco Pantani, the great cyclist from Romagna who won the Grande Boucle in 1998, the same year in which he won the Giro d’Italia. Last in chronological order to do so.
Those extraordinary days are relived today, Sunday, in the Cesenatico-Bologna stage: 200 kilometers in the name and memory of the beloved Pirata, the champion born by the sea, but who was able to give his best in the mountains, like the escape on the Galibier in 1998, now consigned to the history of cycling, confirms.
“These are days of celebration. A great popular celebration as it should be for a sport like cycling, so loved and followed, which takes place on the roads and among the people. And which has deep roots in Emilia-Romagna. And it is nice that the organizers of the Tour have chosen to dedicate a stage to Pantani, a champion who gave us unforgettable emotions – underlines the president of the Region, Stefano Bonaccini -. But this stage has another important meaning for us: tomorrow the cyclists will compete in the heart of those territories that were hit by one of the most serious floods ever just a year ago. My hope is that the great showcase of the Tour can also be an opportunity to give visibility to these places and their communities who have courageously risen again. They deserve it for the example of tenacity and solidarity they have offered to all of Italy.”
The departure from Cesenatico took place at 12. With a passage also in front of the Spazio Pantani museum. But the entire stage was a tribute to the unforgettable champion along the roads of Romagna where he trained. In Cesenatico on Sunday there was also the inauguration of the suggestive installation by the artist Simone Tribuiani: a giant photograph of the Pirate pedaling, on the lawn of the municipal stadium where the starting village is located. A second installation by Tribuiani in the body of water in front of the free beach of Piazza Costa, created with the collaboration of the Cooperativa Stabilimenti Balneari: an enormous floating bicycle made with buoys.
Among the other installations, the yellow sail created by the “Un Mare di Lana” Association and hoisted on the “Le tre fff” boat along the Portocanale, which joins the celebratory one of Pantani displayed on the façade of the Town Hall. “Tour Yellow” color also for the cycle path of Via Mazzini and Via Saffi, with the official stage logos to remember this important event for the city. a few days ago the Tende al Mare were inaugurated, a Cesenatico tradition which this year was dedicated to the Tour de France, in collaboration with the Academy of Fine Arts of Ravenna.
