“Brunello di Montalcino Wine Stage”. The Giro d’Italia is coming back to Montalcino

It is a classic within a classic. The Giro d’Italia’s “Wine Stage” has been a regular appointment for several years. This year, in 2021 for the 104th edition of the Giro, it will be called the “Brunello di Montalcino Wine Stage”. The most beloved “Corsa Rosa” in bicycle racing (which will start in Turin on May 8th, and will end in Milan on May 30th) will arrive along the picturesque white roads that speckle the territory and surround the vineyards of one of the most famous red wines in the world, as WineNews reported. Giro d’Italia will be at stage 11, on May 19th, which promises to be spectacular. The Giro will start from Perugia, 163 kilometers to arrive in Montalcino, following the final 35 kilometers on dirt roads that in more than one occasion have offered cycling enthusiasts, and not only, unforgettable experiences and images.
The last time the Giro d’Italia came to Montalcino takes us back to eleven years ago. It was edition number 93 of the Giro d’Italia. After cycling for 220 km on the soaked dirt roads, jerseys covered in mud, the exhausted face of Cadel Evans, world champion at the time, and winner of the race, with his arms up to the sky at the finish line, made the world appreciate his achievement. Evans had engaged in an amazing challenge with another big name in cycling, Damiano Cunego, while Vinokourov snatched the pink jersey from “Shark” Vincenzo Nibali. Those passionate moments, still today in everyone’s minds, went around the world “consecrating”, perhaps definitively, the link between the noble sport, par excellence, cycling, and the great wine terroirs. And, we must remember that in 1987 Moreno Argentin was the first to cross the finish line: two cycling legends, both World Champions.
“Eleven years later, the Giro d’Italia pink race pairs again with the Montalcino red wines”, commented Fabrizio Bindocci, president of the Consorzio del Brunello di Montalcino, “we immediately chose to be there, not only because of the importance of the event, but also because the Brunello di Montalcino Wine Consortium and its companies have always signified unity with their territory. Montalcino is now a global brand, thanks to wine, and its economy is based on a modern agricultural community model generating employment, added value and high-end tourism from all over the world. Cycling is a sport that requires passion and self-denial but which also gives great satisfaction, the same as Brunello, after our producers have worked for years in the vineyard”.
“The fact that the “pink race” is back in Montalcino, in such a challenging year, is a source of pride for us all and it is the signal that looking optimistically and confidently towards restarting our territory is possible”, explained the Mayor of Montalcino, Silvio Franceschelli. “The municipal administration has invested heavily in terms of infrastructures and coordination. The other objective now, together with the Municipality of Siena, will be, compatibly with the emergency situation, to promote this great event and create the opportunity for visibility. This will be the first about-face in response to the widespread crisis that has also affected our economic and commercial fabric, and to begin to move, even though in a limited way, towards Italian and European proximity tourism. We will engage all the security protocols provided and be in full compliance with the anti-contagion regulations. We hope that in May, the Giro d'Italia will be an opportunity to mark a new beginning. I would like to thank the Consortium of Brunello di Montalcino Wine that immediately believed in and shared this promotion project for our entire territory”. The appointment, therefore, is in May, in the middle of spring that hopefully will be a restart and rebirth, which are messages that the “Corsa Rosa”, in its more than one hundred year-old history has often brought with it, conveying enthusiasm and beauty worldwide. And, at the finish line there will be a toast with Brunello di Montalcino, after the pink caravan has crossed the vineyards, the famous dirt roads, symbol of the Tuscan countryside and “L’Eroica”, one of the symbolic and most popular Italian and world cycling races.
Giro d’Italia has become a showcase of the beautiful countryside shaped by man and the great Italian wine territories. The Giro, in all of its stages, over the years, has cycled across Barolo and Barbaresco in the Langhe, in Chianti Classico, in Montefalco, land of Sagrantino, and Franciacorta, cycling through the Sangiovese territory in Romagna or Prosecco in Conegliano and Valdobbiadene Unesco Heritage Hills. The day after the “Brunello di Montalcino Wine Stage”, thanks to a united effort between the city of Brunello and the famous Palio, the Giro will depart from Siena, to arrive in Bagno di Romagna. “We played as a team”, said Alberto Tirelli, AssessoTurismo of the Municipality of Siena “otherwise, we would not have been able to intercept such an important event. We will certainly be promoting our territory on a nation wide stage. We are very proud as a Municipality to be able to host a stage of the Giro d’Italia, an event that Italians are particularly fond of. It is definitely a good investment, especially thinking about proximity tourism, which we believe we will intercept in the coming months”.