Grand Départ of the Tour de France 2024

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Italy has always been a land of cyclists.

If you try to think about it for a moment, you will quickly realize how this statement is absolutely true. Over the past hundred years, the Italian peninsula has given birth to many champions on two wheels.

Try to stop for a moment, and you will immediately realise how this land has given birth over the last century to many champions on two wheels: the Tuscan Gino Bartali, also known as the Giant of the Mountains, the Piedmontese Fausto Coppi, nicknamed the Heron, and finally the Pirate, the Romagna-born Marco Pantani.

Three champions from different backgrounds, with three distinct sporting histories behind them, but who were able to lead Italian cycling to the international Olympus with passion and dedication.

It can therefore be no coincidence that, for the first time since 1903, Grand Départ del Tour de France 2024, will start from Italy with three exciting stages that will run precisely along the roads of their homelands.

It is by cycling that you learn the contours of a country best, because you have to sweat it out on the hills and freewheel down the slopes.

Ernest Hemingway

 

THE GRAND DÉPART STAGES

Grand Depart Tour de France 2024 - mappa
 

Exactly one hundred years after Ottavio Bottecchia's victory in the Tour de France and the participation of Alfonsina Strada in the Giro d'Italia as the only woman, in 2024 it will be Italy's turn to kick off the world's most-watched cycling event, thanks mainly to the collaboration between Tuscany, Emilia-Romagna and Piedmont, which have always loved cycling and are committed to promoting a strong cycling culture, including from a tourism perspective.

Three not-to-be-missed race stages that will cross much of the territory of north-central Italy and take us all the way to the French border, for a total route of more than 600 km in total.

 


1ST STAGE

Florence ➟ Rimini 
Saturday 29 June 2024

Climbers' stage | 205 km

1° Tappa - Altimetria
Grand Départ Tour de France 2024, 1st Stage - Elevation map

 

 


2ND STAGE

Cesenatico ➟ Bologna 
Sunday 30 June 2024

Sprint stage | 200 km

2° Tappa - Altimetria
Grand Départ Tour de France 2024, 2nd Stage - Elevation map

 

 


STAGE 3

Piacenza ➟ Turin 
Monday 1 July 2024

Sprinters' stage | 225 km

3° Tappa - Altimetria
Grand Départ Tour de France 2024, 3rd Stage - Elevation map

 

 


Emilia-Romagna: a land to discover by bicycle

From Piacenza to Rimini, Emilia-Romagna succeeds in delighting bikers and cyclists, thanks to its territory made up of plains, rolling hills but also steep climbs and descents.

Many itineraries are possible and suitable for everyone: there are those that are family-friendly, with children in tow, up to those that are suitable for experts and experienced sportsmen.

A unique territory that thanks to the low speed of two wheels, it is possible to get to know in its most intimate aspects, thus going to reveal some precious gems from the artistic, cultural, naturalistic and gastronomic points of view.


Emilia-Romagna: 7 reasons to travel by bike

The region can therefore be visited to the rhythm of the pedals (of all types of bicycles) and you do not have to be an athlete, but simply have a desire for an active holiday.

  1. Emilia-Romagna is the most bike-friendly region in Italy, offering enthusiasts more than 1285 km of bike paths;
  2. Ferrara is the "bicycle capital of Italy": the use of bikes is among the highest in Europe;
  3. Emilia-Romagna is a land that loves sports and sportsmen (SportValley): every year it hosts major national and international events, including cycling ones;
  4. Emilia-Romagna is dotted with equipped hotels (Bike Hotel) with solutions, services and infrastructure for cyclists and enthusiasts (bike storage, bike wash, bike workshop, laundry for technical clothing, etc.);
  5. Every year Emilia-Romagna hosts the Italian Bike Festival, the great International Bike Exhibition;
  6. Three of the fifteen routes that make up the European bicycle tourism network (Eurovelo) cross Emilia-Romagna: Eurovelo 5, Eurovelo 7 and Eurovelo 8;
  7. Emilia-Romagna boasts numerous cycle routes, all of which are worth riding. Including: Ciclovia del Sole, route between Mirandola and Bologna; Food Valley Bike from Parma to Busseto; Ciclovie dei Parchi inside the parks and nature reserves of Emilia Romagna; Via Romagna through cities of art, historic villages and the natural beauty of Romagna.

The bicycle is beautiful because of what it can give you. It makes you feel good, it gives you a chance to feel, to talk, to see the world from another angle.

Davide Cassani


All updates on the Grand Départ on the official website https://www.letouritalia.it/ 

Tour De France #TDF2024 🚴‍♂️. 


SIDE EVENTS

Last update 09/01/2024
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