A stage so flat that it couldn’t be flatter: almost 80 kilometres with 50 metres of altitude difference, just for the record. It is the 18th stage of the Giro-E Enel 2024: from San Biagio di Callalta to Padua. Beyond the bike, however, there is much to see today, starting right from the city of departure, the theatre of the terrible Piave Front in the First World War. Here is the wall still with the famous motto: Better one day as a lion than a hundred days as a sheep. While part of the Republic of Venice, magnificent villas were built in the area of San Biagio, erected by the nobles and patricians of the Serenissima, some of which have survived to the present day. It was here that the fashion designer Pierre Cardin was born in 1922, entering the world as Pietro in Sant’Andrea di Barbarana. Leaving San Biagio, the route of the stage runs along the Brenta Riviera, with its sumptuous historic residences often surrounded by equally notable gardens, and leads to Padua, which attracts with its world-famous treasures, starting with the Scrovegni Chapel, home to 38 panels frescoed by Giotto.
The San Biagio di Callalta-Padua stage
The 18th stage of the 2024 Giro-E starts from San Biagio di Callalta, in the province of Treviso, which has never been the site of a stage in the Giro d’Italia, neither at the start nor at the finish. The finish line is set in Padua in Prato della Valle, a Giro arrival 24 years later: in 2000 Quaranta won the stage starting from San Marcello Pistoiese. However, the last time Padua hosted a start of the Giro d’Italia (with arrival in San Martino di Castrozza and victory for Di Luca); it was 2009.The plan of today’s section includes a 14 kilometre off-road stretch before joining the Giro roads for the next 64 kilometres. Given the flat altitude profile, today there are few opportunities to use assisted pedalling, apart from those of the special tests distributed along the stage
Cyclist of the day
– Giuseppe Bica, a genuine, outgoing and generous Sicilian. Brand Ambassador of Lombardo Bikes, influencer on social media, athlete who loves sport and effort: he makes the pedal-assisted bike his mission. But above all, Giuseppe Bica, captain of the RCS Sport team, is super nice!” I’m representing Lombardo Bikes for the third year at the Giro-Ethos year we have a very particular bike: it has salt inside. It’s to remind us of the sea water of our Sicily. We produced a series of 14 bikes for 14 iconic Sicilian islands. I arrived at the 2024 Giro-E after a major cycling injury: I fell 50 days ago, resulting in a compound fracture, but I did everything I could to be at the start and I succeeded. I’m experiencing the Giro-E with the same determination and cheer as always. I accompany guests with enthusiasm and love to make them have fun cycling on the Giro d’Italia routes; This compensates for my not being a professional cyclist, but a tour leader who brings joy and keeps the group united in safety. In me they find all the Sicilian hospitality, the sun, the creativity, and even a bit of baroque”.
City of Sport and Health, an opportunity for young people: the grand finale of the series of ANCI workshops at the Giro d’Italia in Tolmezzo. The ANCI workshops in the municipalities hosting the Giro-E stage starts are coming to an end, which have confirmed the importance of the network between public and private to implement increasingly impactful actions in favour of young people. The last of the events forming part of the series of ANCI workshops at the 2024 Giro-E is scheduled for Friday 24 May at 1pm in Tolmezzo, where the topic of engagement and growth opportunities for young people in local development strategies, plus the valorisation of resources, sports and major events will be discussed. After the introduction by Simona Elmo, Head of the ANCI Youth Policy Office, and Annalisa Bonfiglioli, Head of Cramars soc. coop., we will be talking about cycling and its relationship with school, business and the area. This initiative takes place as part of the broader support and financing program for Italian municipalities under the National Youth Policy Fund, created through agreements with the Italian Department for youth policies and universal civil service of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers. The general objective of the ANCI workshops is to improve the level of engagement of young people in the valorisation of resources in the area as drivers of sustainable local development, through the common thread of sport and its values. Like in every stage, ANCI also kicks off the Tolmezzo Giro-E stage with its own cycling team, led by skier Giorgio Rocca and made up of local administrators and ambassadors of the area.
TICKETONE
One of the great innovations of the Giro-E Enel 2024 is that from this year it is possible to purchase tickets for participation in one or more stages of the event.5 places are available per stage: you will cycle with the RCS Sports & Events team. The minimum age is 17 years and a medical certificate is required for non-competitive sports.
The Giro-E is an e-bike experience that takes place on the days and on the roads of the Giro d’Italia. Organised by RCS Sport and included as a cycling touring event in the calendar of the Italian Cycling Federation (FCI).The Giro-E allows normally trained cyclists to face the climbs usually reserved for champions, living the experience of the Corsa Rosa, whose route it follows. What changes are only the starting locations, as well as the distance of the stage, which is shorter. The 2024 edition includes 20 stages, with a daily distance of between 30 and 85 kilometres. The time trial stages are also held, which in the Giro-E become regularity tests. Each section is covered in a compact group, except for some sections, where all participants face regularity tests and special tests with their own team. The Giro-E takes place only and exclusively with pedal-assisted racing bicycles (e-road bikes), approved and with 250W motors for a maximum speed limited to 25 km/h, supplied by each cyclist’s own team. The arrival of the stage takes place before the finish line of the Giro d’Italia but under the same arch, and the awards ceremony on the same podium as the professionals.
