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2015 Giro d'Italia to start with team time trial - on a cycle path (+ video)

Liguria region to host opening three days of race next May

Next year’s Giro d’Italia will start in Liguria with an 18-kilometre team time trial – and unusually, one that will be held on a cycle path.

The Riviera dei Fiori cycle path was built on the site of the former coastal railway line linking Italy with the South of France, replaced by a new line in 2001 that mainly runs underground.

Race organisers RCS Sport confirmed details of the 2015 Grande Partenza in Milan this morning, with the opening stage from San Lorenzo al Mare to San Remo taking place on Saturday 9 May.

Like the annual Milan-San Remo classic, the stage will finish on the Lungomare Italo Calvino in the seaside resort.

Liguria will also host the following two days of the hree-week race.

Stage 2 from Albenga finishes with four laps of a 7.5 kilometre circuit in the region’s capital, Genoa, and is likely to favour the sprinters.

That will be followed by a testing run down the coast from Chiavari to La Spezia – Alessandro Petacchi’s home town – which will take in the hills in and around the beautiful coastal villages of the Cinque Terre.

It will be the fifth time that the Giro d’Italia has started in Liguria, and Tour de France winner and current Italian national champion Vincenzo Nibali has already expressed hopes to ride in next year’s race.

“The Giro d’Italia is very important for me and I would like to send my regards to everyone,” said the Astana rider.

“I have a very special bond with the Giro because it’s the race that launched me onto the Grand Tour scene. I can say I wish to come back in 2015.”

Race director Mauro Vegni said: “The three stages in Liguria, we are sure, will be a great success. This land is double-knotted to cycling and its passion has never ceased.

“Next year will be the fifth Giro Big Start from Liguria, and countless towns and villages have hosted the Giro’s stages throughout its history, either as stage starts or finishes. And this is on top of prestigious events such as the Milan-San Remo. We therefore expect a lot of people and a lot of love.”

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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14 comments

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Luminosity | 9 years ago
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Slightly better photo of it here:

http://goo.gl/ZErU19

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Al__S | 9 years ago
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Been looking at this on streetview- looks a lovely facility (though seems to be so unusual in that part of the world that it has it's own website- it's only about 20km long...).

Not sure about it as a TTT course- as an ex railway, it has no steep bits at all and all the curves are long and sweeping. Basically there will be no technical challenges- it'll be a test pure power and discipline. It will be very, very fast.

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Lbowron | 9 years ago
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*comment deleted*

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northstar | 9 years ago
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Some teams it seems can barely keep it together on wide public highways, wrong decision.

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annamac | 9 years ago
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It's a former railway line that runs along the coast. I rode on it recently and it's lovely. Especially the long stretch of unlit railway tunnel when it's really hot - that and the ice-cream shops at either end  1

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farrell | 9 years ago
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Did nobody see the start of the Dauphiné this year?

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kitkat | 9 years ago
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I suspect a CX bike would do you better than a TT bike...
//www.gannon.me.uk/planetbill/harlow-dismounts-480.jpg)

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rasalati | 9 years ago
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Looking closely at the photograph, that's one heck of a cycle "path". A lane for each direction, with a pedestrian path to the side separated by the solid white line.

We can but dream.

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Luminosity replied to rasalati | 9 years ago
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rasalati wrote:

Looking closely at the photograph, that's one heck of a cycle "path". A lane for each direction, with a pedestrian path to the side separated by the solid white line.

We can but dream.

I know some of us on Road.cc have cycled it - and if we could but get some of these government officials to see it they would be astounded. Yes, it can be done! And it's a great ride - cafe en-route with bike parking overlooking the Med. and restaurants all around.

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Beatnik69 | 9 years ago
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What happens when they leave the cycle lane and get stopped by an over officious CCSO (Carabinieri Community Support Officer  1 )?

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notfastenough | 9 years ago
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'Held on a cycle path' - are you suggesting that the road next to the path will be open to public traffic?

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arrieredupeleton replied to notfastenough | 9 years ago
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notfastenough wrote:

'Held on a cycle path' - are you suggesting that the road next to the path will be open to public traffic?

As Rasalati says, that's not a road, its a proper 2-way cycle path (you can just make out the bike symbol painted in yellow). They will need to look out for dogs, rabbits, teenagers and broken glass if its anything like the one near me...but I doubt it.

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Salkeldi | 9 years ago
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I wonder if they will be dodging cars leaving their drives and pedestrians as we would on a UK cycle path. Perhaps they will have to share it with a Bus  16 , great for drafting, rubbish for safe cycling.

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Salkeldi | 9 years ago
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I wonder if they will be dodging cars leaving their drives and pedestrians as we would on a UK cycle path. Perhaps they will have to share it with a Bus  16 , great for drafting, rubbish for safe cycling.

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