When The Giro d’Italia Comes To Town

The city of Lucca went a little bit crazy (in a good way) this week when the Giro d’Italia came to town. The color pink, representing the Maglia Rosa, the Pink Jersey worn by the leader, appeared overhead in street banners, in window displays, balloons, and even in pastry shops. The pink of the jersey reflects the color of the pages in the sports paper La Gazzetta dello Sport, the founder of the race in 1909.

The biggest crowd gathered at the beginning of the route. Thanks to J. Nichols for this photo.

The Giro d’Italia is Italy’s Grand Tour bike racing event, with teams from many nations participating. The Giro has multiple stages, taking the riders from sea level to mountain top over a challenging 3-week course. The rider wearing the Maglia Rosa can change with each stage, always worn by the leader at that point in the competition.

The route varies from year to year. This year’s race began in Durrës, Albania and ends in Rome on June 1st, a total distance of 3,443 km (2139 miles). The rider who crosses into Rome wearing the pink jersey is the winner. This year’s stage 10, one of two time trial stages, began in Lucca, a very big event for the city.

The route took riders along Lucca’s wall as part of the time trial event.

An exhibit on the history of the Giro d’Italia, with photos of past winners and Italian racing superstars, was set up under the loggia in Piazza San Michele. It included an interesting display of old bicycles. My favorite was the bike with a coffee bar attached!

On the day of the race, souvenir stands sold race-themed merchandize, car and pedestrian traffic was rerouted, and Piazza Napoleon became the center of activity and the starting point for the event.

The route took riders from the piazza up onto Lucca’s wall, about ¾ of the way around, and then onto Pisa, a distance of 28.6 km (17.8 miles).

Because this was a time trial, the riders took off one at a time rather than in a large group. Each was preceded by a motorcycle escort and followed by a car bearing the rider’s name and colors. Fans lined the route, tracking the riders, cheering and waving the flags of various countries as each rider flew passed.

At the end of Stage 10, Dutch rider Daan Hoole had the fastest time to Pisa while Mexican rider Isaac del Toro had the overall lead and the Maglia Rosa. This was the final time trial of the Giro, now the riders move on across Italy and eventually to Rome. Who will be wearing the pink jersey at the end?