Jesolo and the Giro: a long-lasting love story

By Giovanni Cagnassi

The Mirandola sprint on the lido is still an emblem of the 16th stage of the Giro d’Italia in Jesolo. It was 1970, when the city became a stage of the Giro, and welcomed the athletes at Terrazza Kursaal in Piazza Brescia. The girls in bikinis and the lifeguards in red tank tops cheered the champions in this evocative sporting and touristic oleography. Dino Zandegù won the sprint of the stage, starting an explosive celebration of colours and chants.

It was 3 June 1970, and the Lido of Jesolo, crowded with enthusiasts and tourists who enjoyed the hot summers of those years, fell in love with the Carovana Rosa. These were the first summer seasons that brought the city among the brightest stars of Italian tourism. The Giro d’Italia returned to Jesolo on 22 May 2015. It had been missing since 2009, when the Corsa rosa saw the start of the second stage after the team time trial at the Venice Lido, ending in Trieste.

The locality hosted the 13th stage, exclusively in the Veneto region, on 22 May 2015 with departure from Montecchio Maggiore, in the province of Vicenza, and arrival in via del Bersagliere on the lido in front of former Pala Arrex, now the tourism building. 153 kilometres through the wonderful Venetian plain, and the final sprint engraved in the memory by the mobile phone shots. This year the spotlights are on Caorle on 24 May for stage number 17, but Jesolo, on that day, will still be crossed by the national race par excellence, thus strengthening the relationship with the well-known sporting partnership. It’s not a real stage, but it is a great appointment in any case.

The 106th edition of the Giro will involve Jesolo in the afternoon for 20 km: it will arrive in the city from via Piave Vecchio, cross some squares on the lido and reach Piazza Trieste with the finish line. The race will continue towards the pine forest crossing the Piave river towards Caorle. The crossing of the river sacred to the whole Country coincides with the date when the Italian troops crossed the Piave on 24 May 1915 to reach the front and begin to fight during World War I.

The emotion is strong while waiting for the arrival of the cyclists, which, once again, will enliven the summer in Jesolo albeit in a short and exciting sprint.