. Three days before the first Grand Départ in history in Italy, the Tour de France took up residence in Florence, precisely at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale where the organization’s headquarters and press center are located. The Tuscan capital will take its place on Saturday in the list of Italian stage towns having hosted the Tour peloton, on the occasion of the 12 editions where the country has appeared on the map.
. Among the contenders for the title of the 111th edition, Remco Evenepoel was the first to lend himself to the journalists’ questions, displaying great caution in his ambitions for his discovery of the Tour de France.
. The Tour’s stay in Italy presents itself as a unique opportunity for the eight national riders expected at the start, led by the champion crowned last weekend, Alberto Bettiol. The Tuscan runner has already been able to gauge the support of his youngest compatriots during the traditional children’s press conference.
. Before really getting into action, the runners will enjoy a parade tomorrow in front of the sumptuous monuments of Florence to go to the team presentation ceremony on Michelangelo Square. Thrills guaranteed.
TWELVE FINISHES OF THE TOUR IN ITALY: FROM GINO SCIARDIS TO EDVALD BOASSON HAGEN
The Grand Départ and a total of almost 700 kilometres of racing in Italy is a first. But the Tour de France’s transalpine incursions began in 1948, with a victory by an Italian, Gino Sciardis, in San Remo. The young rider, who had been living in Bondy since his teenage years, then won on French soil in 1950, this time as a Frenchman, after applying for naturalisation. Of the eleven other passages of the Tour in Italy, six ended with victories by riders from the country, most flamboyantly by Fausto Coppi. The Campionissimo won in Aosta in 1949, taking the Yellow Jersey from Gino Bartali in one of the most memorable chapters of their rivalry; then in Sestriere, the day after his takeover at Alpe d’Huez, allowing him to return to Italy and win there wearing yellow. Claudio Chiappucci also triumphed in Sestriere in 1992, with an epic offensive of over 200 kilometres, while Miguel Indurain managed to take the lead of the general classification. In the 21st century, two stages of the Tour have ended in Italy, both concluded with the victory of a breakaway rider: one in 2008 in Prato Nevoso with the victory of Simon Gerrans; and the other in 2011 in Pinerolo where Edvald Boasson Hagen had raised his arms. The Norwegian rider was not selected for a 14th Tour, but four riders from the peloton of thirteen years ago are expected to start in Florence: Jakob Fuglsang (then with Leopard-Trek; now with Israel-Premier Tech); Geraint Thomas (Sky; Ineos Grenadiers); Mark Cavendish (HTC-High Road; Astana); and Rui Costa (Movistar; EF Education-EasyPost).
REMCO EVENEPOEL: “POGACAR WILL BE THE MAN TO BEAT”
The time for the big baptism is approaching for Remco Evenepoel, who will finally discover the roads of the Tour de France at the age of 24, after having already added the Vuelta in 2022 to his list of achievements, just before winning the World Championships. His feats of arms position him as a very serious contender for the final podium, which will be positioned in Nice on Place Massena on the Belgian national day. “For the moment, I know that I am here to play a role in the general classification,” confirmed the interested party while putting his chances against the number 1 favorite into perspective. We know that Tadej Pogacar will be the man to beat and that his UAE Emirates team wants to win as many stages as possible, they want to show that they are the Real Madrid of cycling! For my part, I am impatient to discover, I have confidence in my preparation and in my team, but for the moment I will be content to see how the legs turn and to follow the best for as long as possible. I have to stay calm, the Tour is long.” Arriving on Italian soil early in the morning, the leader of Soudal-Quick Step has all sorts of memories in the country of the Grand Départ. He experienced the worst there, with a terrible fall in the final of the Tour of Lombardy in 2020 which cost him a long convalescence. Italy also gave him some great moments of joy, like his two victories in the time trials of the Giro 2023 (including one a handful of kilometers from Rimini), which he had to leave due to a positive test for Covid while he was dominating the general classification. While he is happy to sort through these events, Remco refuses to give in to superstition: “It’s true that there were ups and downs. Of course the pink jersey was the high point, and leaving the race with Covid was the low point. But that’s in the past and since I’m not superstitious, it won’t have any impact on what’s going on in my head.”
THE SQUADRA: EIGHT STAGE HUNTERS
Few cyclists will appreciate this Grand Départ as much as Alberto Bettiol. The EF Education-EasyPost rider is the only one of the 176 participants in this Tour de France to be from Tuscany: more precisely from Castelfiorentino, around forty kilometers from Florence. To make matters worse, the winner of the 2019 Tour of Flanders was proclaimed Italian national champion last Sunday… in Sesto Fiorentino, another town around the Medici capital, where Bettiol will show off his “green-white-red” jersey. Beginner Matteo Sobrero will benefit from another privilege: the third stage will cross his home town (Alba) at kilometer 165. A second Italian is discovering the Tour this year: the fast Michele Gazzoli, accompanied at Astana Qazaqstan by the experienced Davide Ballerini. Giulio Ciccone, wearer of the Yellow Jersey for two days in 2019 and winner of the polka dot jersey in 2023, puts forward the strongest chances of shining again, while the powerful Luca Mozzato (Arkéa-B&B), the climber Davide Formolo (Movistar ) and classic hunter Gianni Moscon (Soudal-Quick Step) are also credible candidates for a bouquet. Their common challenge will be to win a stage for Italy, five years after Vincenzo Nibali’s last in Val Thorens in 2019.
OTTAVIO BOTTECCHIA, LE PIONNIER
The history of the Tour de France began in 1903 with the victory of the little Italian chimney sweep… but Maurice Garin, although born in Val d’Aosta, already had French nationality when he inaugurated the winners of the event. The real pioneer was therefore Ottavio Bottecchia, who left a major mark in just four appearances. In 1923, he began by winning the 2nd stage and wearing the Yellow Jersey for six days, before finishing the race in 2nd place in the general classification behind Henri Pélissier. The following year, he left no one with the chance to doubt him: winner from the first day, he wore the Yellow Jersey from start to finish, a performance that was only achieved after him by Nicolas Frantz (1928) and Romain Maes (1935). The “mason of Frioul” even had the luxury of imposing himself on the Parc des Princes velodrome to end his festival in apotheosis. Barely less dominant in 1925, Bottecchia increased his jackpot to nine bouquets and sealed his second title with almost 55 minutes ahead of the Belgian Lucien Buysse, his first pursuer. His 1926 journey then ended with a mid-race retirement, but he had indeed opened the way for a line of Italian Tour winners: Gino Bartali (1938-48), Fausto Coppi (1949-52) , Gastone Nencini (1960), Felice Gimondi (1965), Marco Pantani (1998) and finally Vincenzo Nibali (2014).
THREE FLORENTINE RAINBOWS IN THE TOUR PLATOON
Tuscany is a mecca for cycling, which for example gave birth to two winners of the Tour de France, “The Lion” Gastone Nencini (originally from Mugello) and “The Pious” Gino Bartali (born in the Florentine district of Ponte a Emma). The historic Firenze-Pistoia race, the first edition of which was held in 1870, was the first cycling race organized in Italy, transformed into an individual time trial until 2008. Nowadays, two major races are organized in Tuscany: the Premondiale, a women’s race, and the Giro della Toscana, a semi-classic whose last winner, Pavel Sivakov, will be part of Tadej Pogacar’s teammates at UAE Emirates. Above all, Florence hosted the world championships in 2013. It turns out that the three winners of this edition appear on the entry list for the 2024 Tour: Mathieu Van der Poel, who won the junior race ahead of Mads Pedersen; Matej Mohoric, who became world champion by beating Louis Meintjes; and Rui Costa, who won the elite rainbow jersey. “It was a perfect day,” remembers the Portuguese who also acquired a prestigious outfit last weekend by winning the national title for the third time. Since my childhood, I dreamed of being world champion, but even that morning, the possibility of achieving it had not crossed my mind. However, all the circumstances came together for me to be world champion.”
BETTIOL AND MOZZATO, FACING THE NEW FUTURES
Around a hundred schoolchildren were invited to the newly named Eddy Merckx room at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale, for the children’s press conference, where they were able to play apprentice journalists with Alberto Bettiol and Luca Mozzato, accompanied by the former runner and television commentator Davide Cassani. First question from an enthusiastic little girl: “Can we women run the Tour de France?” », to which Cassani replied that yes, the Tour de France Femmes with Zwift has existed since 2022. The children then talked about tactics (“what happens if the leader falls?”), nutrition (“how many bottles do you drink during each stage”), or even regulations (“are there any movements prohibited on the bike?”). The question gave Luca Mozzato the opportunity to express himself on the difficulty of life as a cyclist: “What I miss most is tiramisu”. The Italian champion, for his part, declared that he had stupidly lost a stage of the Giro: “I was checking the remaining distance to the finish line on my GPS… that day, I learned that instead to look at the screen, you couldn’t take your eyes off the road! “. Finally, another little girl who seemed worried about her small size was reassured by the champions: “Don’t worry about your height, you can all be cyclists”.
SANTINI PLAYS AT HOME
Since the 2022 edition, the making of all the distinctive Tour de France jerseys and special collections produced on one or more stages has been entrusted to Santini. The Bergamo-based equipment manufacturer took the opportunity of the first Grand Départ in Italy to design three jerseys highlighting the cities visited in the first days. It is of course a Renaissance tone that was given to the “Firenze” jersey, decorated with a fleur-de-lys which is also the symbol of the Tuscan capital. The jersey dedicated to Bologna draws on the colors of its football club, seven-time Italian champion, without forgetting the trident of the Fountain of Neptune and a slight nod to Bolognese tagliatelle. For the third stage, the “Torino” jersey above all recalls the historical grandeur of the first capital of the Kingdom of Italy, represented by the Mole Antonelliana, emblem of the city as much as its anima totem, the bull, proudly displayed on the back of the jersey. Several other jerseys were designed by Santini following the 2024 course, naturally ending with a Nice jersey, with parasols and sun on the program.
The entire Tour de France and Tour de France Women’s collections with Zwift from Santini, can be found here: Santini Cycling Wear
