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Chronicle
31
May

21a tappa: Cernusco sul Naviglio – Milano (cronometro individuale)

Così lontano, così vicino Il Giro si decide in un soffio Milan – May 31th, 2020 From our correspondents Paolo Bozzuto e Marco Pinotti artwork by Massimiliano Marzucco Just like Wenders’ film scene in which Emit Flesti – time in person if you read it backwards – slows the clock so that fate is fulfilled. There is a pink balloon flying. But nobody knows why. It is 4:53 pm on a late-May Sunday that will go down in history. It all started much earlier, though: 90 minutes, like the title of a song by the Italian rapper Salmo. Exactly the one that hammers the ears of Filippo ‘Top’ Ganna through earphones while he warms up on the rollers. Filippo worked hard...
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30
May

20th stage, Alba-Sestriere

FOG AND COURAGE No no Nibali, Carapaz grabs the pink Sestriere, May 30th 2020 from our correspondent, Gino Cervi artwork byi Umberto Massa In the morning of the 30th May 2020, in the roads of the center of Alba and in the local piazza, the peloton passes in front of the eyes of those who can not remember that afternoon, a very long time ago, when people pointed out and read aloud, one by one, the battle names embroidered on the red or blue handkerchiefs on the parading partisans. They did it the same way they would have read the racing number on the back of the cyclists through a Giro d’Italia before the Second World War. It is but...
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29
May

19th stage: Morbegno-Asti

Devil Peter, forget the road On the final sprint stage, a victory for the reborn Sagan Asti, May 29, 2020 from our correspondent Lorenzo Franzetti artwork by Daniele Margara «Chial’è chel diàu?». Who’s that bombing down the home straight in Asti? It’s like watching Gerbi, the old Red Devil himself, at full-tilt amidst a procession. Why it’s Peter Sagan, heart, soul and everything else besides for a stage victory at long, long last. Let’s begin, therefore, with the heart: “I dedicate this to Wouter Weylandt, who’s always in our hearts, and to Iljo Keisse. His dream was to dedicate a stage win to his friend Wouter, but once again he hasn’t quite managed it.” At 350 metres from the line, the Belgium...
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28
May

Stage 18: Pinzolo – Laghi di Cancano (Stelvio National Park)

Under the sign of Orion Miguel Ángel López wins the stage of the 85 hairpins Laghi di Cancano – 28 May 2020 From our correspondent Francesco Calvetti artwork by Gianluca Folì Orion stands up in the sky between the Taurus and the Gemini. Though not part of the Zodiac belt, today the Sun is in Orion, the giant hunter of Greek and Latin Myth. Today we don’t miss a thing: 4 cols, 10 valleys; 5400 metres of climbing, 85 hairpins uphill and 54 going down, 21 tunnels; 207 km of tarmac and 2 of gravel, to finish the stage off; 1 Cima Coppi (the highest KOM of the Giro d’Italia; you never have two, anyhow) and 1 National Park. This stage,...
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27
May

Stage 17: Bassano del Grappa-Madonna di Campiglio

On the ridge of the Giro Visconti first to Campiglio Madonna di Campiglio, 27th May 2020 from our correspondent Stefano Munarin artwork by Ale Giorgini Following the San Daniele prosciutto, the Giro starts again from Bassano, the town of the Grappa mountain and the grappa spirits, of the Italian mountain regiment of the Alpini and of the bridge, but also of the 31 partisans who were hanged from the trees of Via dei Martiri; to this day the same trees bring back those indelible images. After the breakaways, the falls and comebacks of the previous days, today we start climbing: this is the first alpine stage of the triptych labeled 5 stars on the Garibaldi guide. More than 5,000 meters of...
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26
May

16th stage: Udine-San Daniele del Friuli

Like a World Championship San Daniele del Friuli, May 26th, 2020 from our correspondent Guido P. Rubino artwork by Giulia Pastorino For those up there, at the top of the classification, the Giro d’Italia is a race whose stages are a game that deserves to be played in full, without ever losing focus. For everyone else, it is just a litany of one-day races, between great classics and compulsory participations. On some stages you can hunt for luck, on others you’d better fill up the tank by limiting the pedal strokes to the bare minimum and hope that it will suffice. Today’s stage was like an edition of the World Championships. Rafał Majka had penciled it on the pages of his...
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24
May

15th stage: Rivolto-Piancavallo

«You know, Pantani» Surprise on the climb of Piancavallo: Dennis the time trialist Piancavallo – May 24th, 2020 from our correspondent Stefano Rizzato artwork by Oscar Diodoro Berto has been seeking for il Pirata for twenty-two years. His real name would be Al-berto, but nobody has ever called him so. That day, Berto managed to see il Pirata more than anyone else on the road. Thirty-seven timed, calculated, precise seconds. It took him a week to find the right spot. Compass and map, not Google. Five thousand, nine hundred and sixteen meters from the start of the climb. The perfect view, to see Marco surging from below. And then follow him up, along the zigzag of the climb. Berto is still...
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23
May

14th stage: Conegliano -Valdobbiadene (time trial)

A question of rhythm Valdobbiadene, 23rd of May 2020 from our correspondent Giovanni Battistuzzi artwork by Jacopo Rosati There’s a tendency to oversimplify when talking about time. These are not the twenty four hours and some change that they want us to believe in. It’s all a bit more complicated or at least more varied, certainly variable. Especially in these parts of Italy, in this arch of hills that would like to become pre-alpine.. ready to bid goodbye to the plain but never with the strength to do so. The hills that connect Conegliano with Valdobbiadene however never whined about it, they maybe indulged themselves but that is recent history, which those who use the right words call “gentrification”. Some time ago...
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22
May

13th stage: Cervia – Monselice

The winning red Monselice, May 22nd – 2020 from our correspondent Silvio Martinello illustrazione di Giulio Castagnaro Great enthusiasm at the starting village: Cervia greeted the heroes of the Giro warmly. Many emotions up to this moment, especially yesterday in Cesenatico, important Apennine crossroads town. A day supposed to favor the former pink jersey winner, Vincenzo Nibali, but which instead revealed some of his limitations, as this time the rain and cold were not his allies. Nevertheless the great work of his team allowed him to stay in the race. “Less chatter and nose to the grindstone” was the motto of the late Felice Gimondi, and that’s what fans are waiting for. The race started again with a new ranking...
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21
May

Stage 12th: Cesenatico-Cesenatico

«It wasn’t like that in the past» Cesenatico – 21st of May 2020 from our correspondent Filip J Cauz artwork by Francesco Chiacchio «It wasn’t like that in the past». Loris says that without turning his gaze. His sudden words lay against the counter breaking the so far unflappable silence whilst playing Maraffone (a game with cards NDT). The bar Piazza has suddenly become overcrowded with drenched and swearing people: guys from the carovana, Giro workers, journalists, drivers… all put together by the breakaway, away from the race. Too much rain, all of a sudden. «Un’era acsé una vòlta» says Loris, his nose with a maze of widespread capillaries and trembling blue eyes counting the many days spent on the same...
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