SPORT / MISCELLANY
Italian cycling commemorated with Florence start to 2024 Tour de France
Starting the 2024 Tour de France in Florence will fix an "incongruity" and celebrate Italian cycling, race director Christian Prudhomme said on Wednesday as he confirmed the first-ever Italian Grand Depart.
The 2024 Tour will start with three stages in Italy and, because of the Paris Olympics, will end in Nice, the first time since 1905 that it will not reach its climax on the streets of the capital.
"The Tour has started from all the countries bordering France," said Prudhomme who is in Italy until Friday to present the 26th Grand Depart from outside French borders, the third in a row after Copenhagen (Denmark) in 2022 and Bilbao (Spain) in 2023.
"It has even started six times from the Netherlands, which has no common border with France. But it has never started from Italy.
"It's an incongruity that will disappear."
The first stage, on June 29, takes the peloton from Florence over the Apennine mountains to Rimini on the Adriatic coast.
The second, cut out for the punchers, will start from the port town of Cesenatico, the hometown and resting place of 1998 winner Marco Pantani, and will go via Imola to Bologna.
The third is a sprinters' stage from Piacenza to Turin.
The fourth stage will also start in Italy before finishing in France.
The Florence start will also be an opportunity to celebrate Italian cycling with 2024 marking the centenary of Ottavio Bottecchia's victory in the 1924 edition, the first by an Italian.
The 2024 Tour will start with three stages in Italy and, because of the Paris Olympics, will end in Nice, the first time since 1905 that it will not reach its climax on the streets of the capital.
"The Tour has started from all the countries bordering France," said Prudhomme who is in Italy until Friday to present the 26th Grand Depart from outside French borders, the third in a row after Copenhagen (Denmark) in 2022 and Bilbao (Spain) in 2023.
"It has even started six times from the Netherlands, which has no common border with France. But it has never started from Italy.
"It's an incongruity that will disappear."
The first stage, on June 29, takes the peloton from Florence over the Apennine mountains to Rimini on the Adriatic coast.
The second, cut out for the punchers, will start from the port town of Cesenatico, the hometown and resting place of 1998 winner Marco Pantani, and will go via Imola to Bologna.
The third is a sprinters' stage from Piacenza to Turin.
The fourth stage will also start in Italy before finishing in France.
The Florence start will also be an opportunity to celebrate Italian cycling with 2024 marking the centenary of Ottavio Bottecchia's victory in the 1924 edition, the first by an Italian.
RELATED ARTICLES
