Photo of the day - 9: Thinking of Il Lombardia (the Tour of Lombardy)

 

As we head into the Autumn and the road cycling season approaches the red kite, representing the final kilometre of the race, I am thinking more and more about The Tour of Lombardy, or Il Lombardia, as it is commonly known - not least because I've been writing a feature about it. In recent days I have spoken to quite a few people, including Norma Gimondi, daughter of the late great Felice Gimondi. 

Today I spoke to the head honcho at RCS Sport, organisers of this event and other big Italian events like the Giro d'Italia and Strade Bianche. It was great to finally get to speak to Mauro Vegni and talk to him about the race and its history. They are putting on quite a few races in the coming weeks - Tour of Sicily, Milan-Turin, Gran Piemonte as well as Il Lombardia. So I felt quite honoured that in this busy period he took the time out to talk to me. 

All this talk of the race, and cycling in the Lombardy region leaves me thinking that I really should go there. I must admit, I have gotten used to doing things over the phone or in video chats. Travelling seems such a faff, especially at this time where you end up having to think about Covid tests and health passes to go to different places - or even the government suddenly deciding to put the country you are visiting onto a red list, or add in other special measures. 

But, I must say I have fond memories of the couple of years I spent in Milan, and I really loved riding around the various areas in the Lombardy region - Como, Bergamo, Lecco, Intelvi, Lugano (in Switzerland), and also going South to Pavia and Oltrepo Pavese. I managed to get in a trip to Lombardy in February of last year, right before the coronavirus pandemic hit. It was only a brief trip up a couple of climbs near Bergamo - before I went on to do some skiing in Courmayeur and Chamonix - but it was lovely. So yes, all this talk of Il Lombardia has me salivating and thinking, maybe I should go there, and meet some of the folks I spoke to, other professional riders, as well as some friends I know there too. I'm holding that thought.

Bye Bye Giro!

So that's it - another Giro d'Italia done and dusted for this year. It was fun, it was exciting, it was eventful, with heightened suspense on the last day.

Work commitments had not allowed me to go out and watch any of the earlier stages of the Giro, but I was pleased to have made it to the finale in Brescia.

The sun shone, it was warm, and I managed to catch up with a couple of friends, including Yvette from Pinarello, who was working with a cycle touring company on the day.

Brescia was jam packed with people from all over the world, it seemed. I guess it is testament to the fact that the Giro has come of age. People are talking about it so much more than they did 10 years ago. The field has cyclists from a broader range of countries, giving the race a wider appeal. All the who's who of international cycling target the Giro nowadays, with this year having a particularly stella line-up of big hitters in the shape of Bradley Wiggins, Vicenzo Nibali, Ryder Hesjedal and Cadel Evans. The organisers have even made an effort to put their promotional messages and materials in English - hence the presence of the ubiquitous Anthony McCrossan doing live commentary for the English-speaking audience. The BBC even included the latest from the Giro in their regular sports bulletins - something we would not have seen a couple of years ago.

So, credit to RCS Sport for putting on a great event and for holding things together even when the weather was challenging.

And thanks to Marco from Gazzetta dello Sport for getting me a ringside seat to see the action, and to Mark Cavendish for providing me with something amazing to watch - especially in the final 200m!