On May 4th the first stage starts from Venaria Reale on the 75th anniversary of the Superga tragedy. The presentation today at the Piedmont skyscraper, headquarters of the Region
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cirogazzetta
Saturday 4 May 2024: first stage of the Giro d’Italia (which will end on Sunday 26th), and exactly 75 years have passed since the Superga tragedy, 4 May 1949. The Gazzetta race could not forget it, and in fact the start of the edition 107 will also be a tribute to Grande Torino, on the day in which we will start from Venaria Reale, the Savoy palace on the outskirts of Turin. The finish line will be in the heart of the Piedmontese capital.
event
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The appointment with the presentation of the Grande Partenza of the Giro d’Italia 107 is today: from 11.30 at the Grattacielo Piemonte in Turin, headquarters of the Region. In the presence of Urbano Cairo, president and CEO of RCS Mediagroup; Paolo Bellino, CEO and general manager of RCS Sport; Mauro Vegni, cycling director of RCS Sport; Stefano Barigelli, director of the Gazzetta dello Sport; Stefano Lo Russo, mayor of Turin; Fabrizio Ricca, regional councilor for sport. We will start from Piedmont for the fourth time in history after 1961 (the Spaniard Miguel Poblet won in Turin), 2011 (Venaria Reale-Turin team time trial, first pink jersey for Marco Pinotti) and 2021, with Filippo Ganna’s second consecutive inaugural success after the one in 2020 in Palermo: in the Turin time trial, the Piedmontese signed one of his best performances ever, ‘flying’ at an average speed of almost 59 per hour over the 8,600 meters of the route. And he covered the rainbow specialty jersey with the Gazzetta del primato colored one. Ganna had finished his preparation for the Romandie, but without shining in the two time trials: so on the eve there was some doubt as to whether he could repeat the Sicilian exploit of 2020, but our giant removed all doubts from the skeptics with authority .
ties
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It was said: great cycling and Grande Torino, a very strong team canceled by the Superga plane crash. No survivors and 31 victims (in addition to footballers, coaches and managers, three journalists and four crew members), including Valentino Mazzola and Gabetto, Bacigalupo and Grezar, Ossola and Loik. Fausto Coppi, a football enthusiast and Toro fan, was a close friend of Loik: he dedicated his victory in the Giro d’Italia on 10 June 1949, just over a month after the tragedy, in the legendary Cuneo-Pinerolo. The one where the legend of the lone man in command was born. It goes like this: the day after Pinerolo’s feat, the awards ceremony for the pink jersey was at the Motovelodromo in Corso Casale in Turin, at the foot of Superga. There was an exceptional miss: Mirella Loik, Ezio’s daughter, who was not even four years old. They put a bouquet of blue hydrangeas in her hand and she placed her little hand on the chest of the Champion, who gave her a little kiss on her cheek.
victories
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After Lombardy, Piedmont is the region with the most Giro d’Italia wins – 18 – thanks above all to Fausto Coppi’s historic five: a record shared with Alfredo Binda and Eddy Merckx. Without forgetting Costante Girardengo, the first of the Champions, and Franco Balmamion, still the last Italian capable of winning two consecutive Giri d’Italia (1962-1963). While Turin also hosted the conclusion of the 2016 edition, Vincenzo Nibali’s second pink triumph. That day we left Cuneo for the last act, while the day before, still in Piedmont – on the climb towards Sant’Anna di Vinadio – the great comeback of the Shark had been completed.
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