Cycling speaks. The 2024 Giro d’Italia opens its doors and does so in the name of remembrance. Yesterday evening, Juric’s Torino against Bologna wore a celebratory shirt to celebrate the “Invincibles” who on 4 May 1949 lost their lives on board the plane which crashed into the wall of the rear embankment of the Superga basilica which stands on the hill of the Turin municipality. And the first stage of the Corsa Rosa will pass right through there, starting from Venaria Reale.
A more than symbolic passage 75 years after the tragedy that shocked not only the world of football, but Italy and the entire world. The departure is already a jewel in itself, the Palace is a true masterpiece, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO since 1997. I was impressed by it a few years ago. What a great start.
We’ll already see something I’m sure. Pogacar will have all eyes on him but I expect in this edition that Italian cycling will be able to take that leap of pride that we have been hoping for for years. I may be trivial, perhaps even too parochial because it’s a bit of my forte, but I always hope for the return of our home riders among the top. In the spring we showed little or nothing other than Mozzato’s outburst of pride with the victory at Bredene and the sensational second place at Fiandre. Then nothing else, except two hurrays from Milan at the Tirreno-Adriatico and some interesting insights into the heart of the Vendrame and Velasco race. The others? In total there are only 43, never so few in the 21st century, although it must be said that there are always only two Italian teams at the start, VF Group Bardiani CSF Faizané and Team Polti Kometa. Who are ready to show off the climbers Giulio Pellizzari, born in 2003 for the former and Davide Piganzoli, born in 2002 for the latter. Then there is Antonio Tiberi of Bahrain who, if he listens to captain Damiano Caruso, will be able to have his say, hoping that after the “case” of the shot with the compressed air rifle (I’ll avoid the story in detail) he has put his mind to place. It would seem so. There is also Ganna, a certainty.
Much has been said about the three-week route, including that the race was built with many time trials and little weight to “smooth” Pogacar himself into coming to the Giro and not struggling too much in view of the Tour. Considering that the Slovenian rider would do well in any scenario, cycling is not an exact sport. So…
Ready Set Go. The flag is ready to fly, the wheels to turn and the gearboxes to do their job. As well as the audience, wonderful on the roadside. The extraordinary wonder of cycling.
THE TECHNICAL COMMENTARY by Marco Rebagliati:
First step! La Venaria Reale – Turin of 140 km. The Great Departure will be relatively short with 1850 meters of altitude difference which will make the stage exciting with the ascents of Berzano di San Pietro and the Superga climb and continuing with the harder climb of Colle Maddalena (7 km at 7%). However, also pay attention to the San Vito wall (1.4 km at 9.8% with peaks at 16%) which will end when there are only 3 km to go to the finish line and could be a nice springboard for those who want to go on to win the stage and consequently wear the first pink jersey of this Giro. Will we see the big names in action right away? Let’s watch the stage and find out… in the meantime, happy Giro everyone!
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