“THE GIRO IS A METAPHOR FOR ITALIAN LIFE”

STEPHEN FARRAND
Procycling UK, ISSUE 255 / MAY 2019

“I love the Giro d’Italia because it is far more than just a bike race: it is a sporting metaphor for the Italians’ infallible love of life in an often chaotic country. 

Nobody is as enthusiastic as the Italian tifosi, waving their arms and shouting at the riders from a mountain roadside; nobody wants to meet the riders like the children in the south. 

Spring turns to summer during the Giro, bringing out the best of the country each day. As interest in the race increases so does the number of people wearing pink. 

The Giro is a three-week crash course in Italian culture, sociology and, of course, gastronomy. I soon learned to imitate the Italian journalists who covered the Giro with a restaurant guide in the glove box of the car, a decent evening meal being the only moment to switch off after another long day on the road. 

I first covered the Giro d’Italia as a journalist in 1994, when, like this year, it started in Bologna. Marco Pantani broke through that year and went on to inspire a new generation of tifosi before his Icarus-like fall and tragic death. 

The Italians are waiting for the next great campione, but will still cheer whoever lines up in Bologna and finishes in Verona. They did so with Froome last year and will do it again. I can’t wait to go back this year to savour the combination of the corsa rosa, la dolce vita, mortadella, the maglia rosa, Parmigiano, Lambrusco – and great bike racing.”