The Giro d'Italia cycling race has been on my mind since yesterday, when I wrote an article for Italy Magazine about an exhibition in Rome which commemorates the great champion, Fausto Coppi.
Today the Sicilian papers are excitedly reporting that the 2011 Giro will include a Sicilian stage but no one is quite sure where: at first it was thought that the cyclists would race from Marsala to Cefalù but this has now been ruled out because the Mayor of Marsala says his town cannot afford to host the stage. Most people now think that the competitors will race from Milazzo to the Rifugio Sapienza at Nicolosi, Etna and that Sunday 15th May will be the great day. The Rifugio is 1,900 metres above sea level.
The year 2011, of course, marks the 150th anniversary of the Unification of Italy, so it is fitting that the Giro should visit as many parts of Italy as possible and that in Sicily the cyclists will land at Marsala, as Garibaldi and the Thousand did.
What is certain is that the Giro d'Italia 2011 will begin in Turin, the first capital of the newly united Italy, on 7th May and end in Milan on 29th May. The routes will be confirmed in Milan on 23rd October.
3 comments:
Would they not keep to the main track? Does anyone know?
How fun! It must make the Sicilians quite happy.
No one will know for sure till 23rd Oct., James. Hi, lakeviewer. Yes, they think it's about time the race came back to Sicily! Thanks, David.
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