Giro-E: our newspaper was also at the Corsa Rosa

boom of participants in the last stage of the Giro E d’Italia which ended in Rome. There were 144 of them. Among them, many well-known names: Leo Gassmann and Massimiliano Rosolino with Enel X Way, Giancarlo Fisichella with Sara Assicurazioni, Paola Gianotti with CNH Industrial. In the ITALIA.IT team the representatives of the institutions: the Minister of Tourism Daniela Santanchè pedaled.

A total of 1,150 kilometers were covered by this caravan of electric bikes following the most famous Corsa Rosa in the world – the 106th – won, as is well known, this year, from Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma).

Here is the diary of our reporter, Michaela K. Bellisario.

Also iO Donna at the Novi Ligura – Tortona stage

Fabrizio Geraci, 40, is a veteran of the Giro d’Italia, having done six. It is a “living Wikipedia” of information. He drives a so-called “broom” van. In the jargon of the Corsa Rosa he explains to me that it is the cart that collects the retired and the injured.

“You have to have a lot of empathy. The other day I witnessed a fight between two participants, husband and wife. He didn’t want to retreat. I pretended not to notice, I smiled and they calmed down ».

Fabrizio manages to reassure me too as he accompanies me to the paddock, to the reserved area, where I meet my team, the Italia.it team.

The Giro-E organized by Rcs Sport

I have to participate in the eleventh stage of the Giro-E, the e-bike experience that takes place during the days and on the roads of the Giro d’Italia organized by Rcs Sport since 2019. The Corsa Rosa opens more or less along the same route.

I am anxious because the closer the departure time – 1.55 pm – the more my inner saboteur teases me: are you really sure you will be able to pedal for 43.5 kilometers between Novi Ligure and Tortona and pass the three required tests, the time trial, special and regularity?

In a fit of pride I force myself. Last September I gloriously participated in the Eroica in Gaiole in Chianti (at the “Passeggiata”, actually) and, recently, at Nova Eroica Prosecco Hills in Valdobbiadene (walking often… uphill).

I breathe and say Om yoga three times. It has nothing to do with it, but it gives me strength.

Oh captain, my captain

It is singular that the meeting place for the athletes is right in front of the museum of the champions of Novi Ligure dedicated to cycling and in particular to Fausto Coppi and Costante Girardengo, who lived most of their lives in the Piedmontese city.

The captain, Raffaele “Lello”Ferrara, who was voted the nicest captain of the entire Giro-E, welcomes me. A former professional from 2001 to 2010, he is now a cycling influencer (his Instagram page is lelloferrara3.0).

«First of all you have to have fun» he warns me immediately telling me about his past with Marco Pantani, «the best of all time».

And the fact that the entire Giro-E, in the Cesena stage, the day before the tragic flood, stopped to say goodbye to Tonina Pantani, mother of the “Pirate” who died in 2004.

“He was so happy to see me again,” she comments. There are also two other journalists and a lawyer.

A world champion at the Giro-E

There is also Beppe Dossena, world champion at the 1982 World Cup with Rossi, Tardelli and Altobelli.

Today with the Onlus Special team, which he leads with the other champion Paolo Maldini, he also takes care of supporting those who have fallen off the podium. And, without medals, victories and a euro in his pocket, he is no longer able to survive either psychologically or economically.

“Unfortunately there are many depressed sports men and women,” he confesses.

The Giro-E jersey with Botticelli’s Venus

Of the 17 teams, ours has the most discussed shirt of the moment: the one with the influencer Botticelli’s Venus, new ambassador of tourism in Italy. The base is white and stands out among the others when our team is presented to the public.

There is also Damiano Cunego, winner of the 2004 Giro, among the participants.

And several women. I recognize Alessandra Fior, a very feisty Triathlon athlete and captain of the all girls Italia.it group in 2022 of which iO Donna was part of in some stages. Our team lines up in the front row compact on the gold Olmo e-bikes.

Let’s all sing together – there will be about a hundred participants – the countdown, like on New Year’s Eve. Pedal right away with Dossena. He’s a world champion, dammit!

The important thing is not just to participate!

He tells me that he plays golf and that today, perhaps, no one would have the courage to make the famous press blackout made by the national team led at the time by Enzo Bearzot.

The team had been heavily criticized by the newspapers for their poor performance in the elimination round: in protest, there were no more press conferences.

E-bikes, meanwhile, “assist” us up to 25 kilometers per hour. In fact we proceed a little too quietly towards the Gavi vineyards keeping the speed imperturbable.

Behind us are the flagships, the ambulance and Fabrizio’s “broom van” ready for use. Lello, the super captain, dressed all in black, almost like a cycling Batman, comes back worried to ask us if it’s all okay.

Yes, certainly. But then they arrive on motorbikes, a little menacing, the so-called “regulateur” of the race: we are at the back of the group and we have to accelerate.

Help, but wasn’t the important thing just to participate? Maybe it’s time to ride for real. To wait for the Corsa Rosa in Tortona.

The winning jerseys of the Giro-E

Blue Jersey by Enel X Way General Classification – GREEN PROJECT AGENCY – SPORTERS

Orange Jersey by Continental Classification Special Stage – CAMBIOBIKE

Green Jersey-Ride Green by Trenitalia Regularity Test Ranking – CONTINENTAL

White Shirt by Intimissimi Men Youth Classification – YAMAHA

Maglia Azzurra by ITALIA.IT Timed Trial Classification – FREE TO X

Red Jersey by Valsir Master Classification – ITALIA.IT

Social Jersey by Fantacycling – CARGLASS

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