The second stage of the Giro d’Italia arrived in an iconic place, the sanctuary of Oropa.
8 kilometers from the Sanctuary of Oropa, the most important in the Alps and whose original structure dates back to the 4th century, along the road that leads from there to the center of Biella in Piedmont, there is an iron monument that is reddish due to rust, composed of many flat and pointed plates that look like flames. There is a sign next to the installation which explains to the few who do not know where they are: in this flat point of the road there was the famous chain jump which momentarily stopped Marco Pantani at the 1999 Giro d’Italia. It is at this point that the legend of the Pirate was born, who from here launched the very long comeback first escorted by the entire Mercatone Uno team and then alone, which led him to recover the ground from his direct rivals Jalabert and Jimenez and then win the stage.
When the route of the 2024 Giro d’Italia was announced last autumn, I didn’t hesitate for a moment in choosing which stage to go and see live. The organization of the Giro has decided to place the arrival of the second stage at the wonderful sanctuary of Oropa, on Sunday 5 May: a special place, on a Sunday, better than this? What better occasion than the 25th anniversary of that memorable feat, on the day and year in which another phenomenon could wear the pink jersey?
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Going to see a stage of the Giro as an ordinary spectator is always a very special experience and may seem a bit crazy: what’s the point of spending four to six hours of your Sunday to essentially see thirty seconds of the group passing at full speed? In the midst of a lot of waiting, perhaps sitting balanced on a wall or on the ground or after a multi-kilometre trek by bike. What makes watching cycling live so special? What reason drives so many people to gather on the side of the road to see the athletes even if for a few seconds?
The second stage of the Giro started from San Francesco al Campo with arrival at the Sanctuary of Oropa: 161 km with the last 11 km uphill towards the famous church that looms over Biella and the most complicated aspect in these cases is where to position yourself along the route and how to get there. I arrived in Biella from Milan by car: I knew that they had closed to traffic along the entire ascent from the city center to the Sanctuary, so I tried my luck by going up towards the church from another road, to the north: a narrow road, alternating one-way route, reopened in January after four years of closure due to a landslide: in reality I imagined that at a certain point I would find the road closed, but I was confident of finding a car park somewhere and being able to go up to the sanctuary.
Instead, I encountered the obstacle much earlier than expected and I therefore fell back on plan B: leaving the car directly in Biella and go up the main street: I actually gave up on reaching the summit, but on the other hand I could have found an excellent observation point halfway up, also hoping to guess the curve where I could witness the decisive attack. Finally leaving the car, I set off towards the city centre: it’s around 11.30 in the morning and the caravan is expected to arrive around 4.30pm, so the wait will be long. That it is a special day can already be seen this morning: in the windows, along the walls surrounding the streets, on the traffic light or sign poles, there are balloons, banners and pink rosettes and lots and lots of cyclists, men, women and children, alone or in groups riding bicycles ready to face the long climb towards the sanctuary: the road is closed to car and motorbike traffic, but not to bicycle traffic. Thousands of cyclists therefore took advantage of the complete absence of cars to tackle this iconic climb.
The atmosphere, as always on these occasions, is very lively and cheerful due to the anticipation in general, and because cycling enthusiasts are almost always rarely divided by cheering for this or that cyclist, it is a great celebration. The main square of Biella is already full of people who wander among the bars for a coffee or a snack before walking towards the sanctuary: the restaurants, bars, shops are festively decorated: t-shirts, sparkling wine branded in pink, special menus of the day. The town presents its best face. Near the sign indicating the flying finish line at 11 km, there is a van selling Giro-themed gadgets from which a large white, blue and red flag of Slovenia stands out, next to the Pink jersey: why yes, today we expect that very thing to happen, that Tadej Pogačar takes the Pink jersey as leader. It’s the most obvious thing that could happen at the Giro this year, but the fans around can’t wait for it to happen, you can see it in their eyes, you can hear it in the clips of the stolen speeches: at what point of the climb will Pogačar attack?
I set off towards the climb: I decided to walk until I can, then we’ll see. With me there are already many people who on foot have had the same idea, while next to me many bikes pass me, which instead head decisively towards the sanctuary. Along the road the decorations, the banners, the pink painted bikes are ready to greet the runners. After a couple of kilometres, here is the point I was hoping to find: the monument to Pantani while on the asphalt it says in large letters “Pantani always in history”. A gentleman invites the many enthusiasts to place a dedication or a simple signature on this monument “in order to make it come alive”, as he happily tells me. Obviously with pink markers.
Marco Pantani’s “chain jump” monument at the 1999 Giro
Around 2pm I decide to stop right where there is the sign indicating that there are 6 km to go. Here the hardest stretch begins and there is a tight bend to the left, with an open space and some walls: just what’s right for me. Now the time of waiting begins: between sandwiches, chats with other enthusiasts, the encouragement for the many amateur cyclists who bend over the handlebars and climb up puffing and live on the race phone to see where the caravan is, time seems to fly by. Every now and then a police motorbike or an organization car passes by whizzing by or honking to make way.
Around 4pm there was a certain concern among the public: down in Biella where we know the race is, Pogačar got a puncture and fell: Did I perhaps wait in vain for Slovenian talent? But then calm returns: nothing serious. Pogačar has changed bikes and together with two UAE teammates he is mending the rift with the group.
Meanwhile, what happened to the race? The day’s escape has now been resumed, with the exception of a stoic Andrea Piccolo who after a solitary escape of 40 kilometers is reabsorbed just before the curve I’m on. Meanwhile, at “my” curve the excitement is rising, the amateur cyclists are no longer there, while motorbikes and cars belonging to the organisation, the press or sponsors follow one another with ever more frequency: the car passes with the signs of the start of the race, very little left. When I hear the roar of the helicopter, the noise of the crowd begins to rise: when the helicopter is heard it means that the group is now around the corner.
Accompanied by the growing roar of the crowd, around the bend the group appears, advancing at full speed, in the lead the white shirts of the UAE with a frenetic pace to pave the way for Tadej Pogačar’s decisive attack, which dashes my hopes and decides to attack a kilometer and a half later and not in front of me. It matters little, the group passed in a whirlwind of screams, applause, voices shouting the names of the cyclists, horns, the roar of the motorbikes. And then? Now begins the long wait for the cyclists who broke away in the previous kilometres, or for the team members who have “finished the job” to lead the group: here Filippo Ganna, who has pulled so hard in the last two hours, slowly passes by amidst the applause.
Tadej Pogacar is the new pink jersey
To close the race, just before the car that signals the end of the race, after the whole parade of colorful flagship cars, the large group of sprinters arrives, who just have to grit their teeth on the climb. But they have to hold on, as the most suitable stages will arrive next week. As soon as the end of the race car passes, the road is filled with people again, but this time they take the road that goes down: they go back to where they came from. I too set off towards Biella, while I follow from my cell phone the last meters of Pogačar arriving in triumph at the finish line of the sanctuary, trailing the Rosa Narvaez jersey by a good 2 minutes. Of Pogačar’s direct contenders, only Geraint Thomas limited the damage, finishing at 27 seconds (in the General Classification he is now at 40 seconds), while Romain Bardet still loses 1 minute and 20. In second position comes Daniel Martinez of Bora (now third in GC) while the starlet and captain of Visma, Cian Uijtdebroeks, is seventh (fourth at 54 seconds in GC).
While I walk with many other people on the sides of the road, as the minutes pass, more and more cyclists pass by me at full speed, some shouting, some ringing their bells and to my great surprise, slowly all the athletes who I saw struggling shortly before also arrive. uphill: the buses are waiting for them in the city for the short transfer to Novara from where the next stage will depart. In the meantime, I got what I came here for: see Pogačar finally with the Maglia Rosa.