In the chorus of one of his most popular songs, the unmistakeable voice of Andrea Bocelli sings ‘Con te partirò, paesi che non ho mai veduto e vissuto con te, adesso si li vivrò’*. Thanks to Piedmont (Italy), that is exactly what La Vuelta 25 will do, expanding the list of countries it visits for its 90th anniversary, thus preserving its spirit of adventure that leads it to discover new locations both inside and outside Spanish borders. This edition of La Vuelta will add yet another country with a strong cycling culture to the race’s extensive history – one that already includes France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Piedmont will welcome La Vuelta’s peloton with four stages spanning across the region’s cardinal points. Along with its capital, Desde with La Venaria Reale as the starting point, and reaching such alpine summits as Ceres or Susa, La Vuelta will compose its score along Italian roads in order to discover the country’s landscapes, gastronomy and heritage.
The first rider to wear La Roja must earn it with an allegro tempo along the streets of Novara, before visiting the truffle locality of Alba and heading to the Limonese mountain. There will be three stages held entirely within Italy, just as there were three editions of the Giro d’Italia won by Giovanni Brunero, whose birthplace, San Maurizio Canavese, will make its debut hosting a stage departure a century after his victories in the pink race. These initial stages, much like an arrangement by Turin’s own composer Ludovico Einaudi, will play out in crescendo, covering over 500 km of Italian territory before crossing the French border and heading towards Voiron.
The Grand Departure in Piedmont not only celebrates cycling, but also the cultural ties between two Mediterranean countries. Like a shared melody, these first stages will resonate with the echoes of shared traditions, exploring landscapes, flavours and sounds in a region that reinforces the spiritual connection between Spain and Italy.
* ‘I’ll go with you, to countries I have never seen or shared with you, now I shall experience them.’
