The 25th Tour of the Province of Biella-79th Turin-Biella Trophy is completely new: date, starting point, route. But the UCAB that organizes does not forget the past and dedicates this edition to Renzo Arduino, legendary Rossoneri president who from the 1950s until last October, has always worked on the preparation of the race, even when he passed the command to the youngest . “Renzo – recalls UCAB president Filippo Borrione – taught us not to forget who was no longer there, we have always done so and with great emotion this time we honor his memory with the gold medal for the winner”. Who will surely be a racer given the difficulty of the Giro that finds pieces of his origins, returning to climb the mountains of the Sessera and Mosso valleys used in the roaring years of amateurs.
This morning’s meeting from the Sports Academy, made available by the former professional Denis Lunghi, is another news of the day with at 12.45 the transfer to kilometer zero in corso Europa, this yes traditional official start. Then with a great career up to Formigliana, return from Balocco, Buronzo, Rovasenda and climb to Sostegno with the first mountain Grand Prix. «We will only lap – says Borrione -, but we will lap Coggiola, Portula to go up to Trivero. Once in Crocemosso we will turn in Viabolche towards Mosso Santa Maria, hamlet of Picco, Romanina and then to Pettinengo. Here the race will have already made a very hard first selection ». You return to Biella from the Maddalena bridge and when you arrive at the Zumaglini gardens, the terrible circuit begins to be repeated five times, it will be around 3 pm, with the stretches of the Costa del Vernato, the paving of the Piazzo, the ascent of the Nera and that of the cemetery road of Vandorno.
“A path chosen to avoid – explains Borrione with a touch of controversy – all the traffic dividers, poles, walls, roundabouts grown on the roads and which put the safety of cyclists at risk in this era in which there is so much talk of new mobility”. Then Borrione traces the identikit of the winner, at the start 180 maximum riders, but the registrations have reached 200 with the great refusal to a belated English team: “A powerful, agile specialist, good at riding the bicycle and who has the mental capacity to manage the tactic of running in the descents and toboggans of this final over the physical effort ». Who knows that someone like this is not inside Zalf Euromobil, a highly rated team on the national scene, but that in the Ucab race has not placed athletes on the podium since 1995, second place for Paolo Savoldelli, with the various Guzzo, Raccani or Zurlo already victorious in the season. Attention to Simone Piccolo (Viris Vigevano) who finished second in 2019 and third last year. Those who love cycling look at the dorsal number 44 of the Monaco standard bearer who responds to the name of Nicolas Vinokurov, son of the gold medal in London 2012. In front of the first there will always be someone from the Russian national team, here to learn the job of the ragasItalian means.