It is now the month of May and we are compelled to give up on Giro d’Italia. Will the “Feast of May”, as Orio Vergani used to name it, be postponed to October – we all are hoping for? Or, will it definitely be erased from the calendar of this leap and fatal year? In fact, in the history of the race until today, such a circumstance happened only twice on the occasion of World War I and II.
At the moment, we do not have an answer to this question yet. What we only know is that we do not want to do without “our” feast of May and so have decided to set it up ourselves.
We have asked journalists, writers, former pro riders and enthusiasts with a proven track record to narrate the stages of Giro d’Italia 2020, thus giving life to a fantasy chronicle of the race. There will not be footage, there will not be images – nor a single interview. It will be only words, pretty much like it used to be during the early editions of the Giro at the beginning of the twentieth century when reporters would narrate the endeavours of the cycling pioneers by relying exclusively on the evocative fascination of their articles. Every day, the imaginative efforts of each author will give birth to the stage classification and, stage after stage, the Giro that is not to be will shape up as a story to be told.
However, it is not completely true that it will be only words. In order to back up the “chroniclers”, we have brought together a team of illustrators, who will draw an original picture for each stage, a visual synthesis inspired by a meaningful trait of the daily route or a specific moment of the race.
We have so made up SenzaGiro – the Giro d’Italia that is not to be as a tribute to our passion for cycling and its stories, and, perhaps, also as an attempt to exorcise such a puzzling chapter of our lives. Hopefully, we can render a little “social service” to all the fans, who during the month of May will have to do without the Giro. In line with this, we have launched a fundraising campaign to support Cooperativa Sociale Namasté, a charity association based in Bergamo.
Starting from May 8th, we will report from our “fantaGiro” on a daily basis. Every day, we will publish on-line the stage and general classifications as well as a geographical and territorial description of the route and main ascents.
Follow us and let’s play along.
