A day to remember

Wednesday 18 May 2005: a date Rossano Veneto will remember for a long time.
That day, thanks to the commitment of Wilier Triestina, Selle Italia and the town council, the town became the destination for one of the stages of the 88th edition of the Giro Ciclistico d’Italia, the Ravenna-Rossano Veneto, of 212 kilometres. Never before had the town been in the middle of such a resounding sport event and never before had it welcomed so many thousands of festive fans. That day transformed Rossano. Its crowded roads adorned in pink became unrecognisable by its own inhabitants; they were no longer streets but rather tracks for the champions of the Giro d’Italia. The end of the stage was a 5.3 km circuit that the group repeated three times before rushing to the finish line in viale Monte Grappa. When the convoy approached the finish line Rossano exploded in jubilation and thousands of hearts started pounding faster and faster until the final sprint. Pure adrenaline was flowing when the sprinters tackled the last straight stretch at full speed. The ultra favourite Petacchi from La Spezia fought until the last metre to then bow to the great unforgiving Australian cyclist Robbie McEwen under the finish line.
It was an exciting spectacle, a reward for the long months of work by the organisers, who we must give credit to for placing Rossano in the limelight of world cycling for one day.



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10th December 2013