L’Eroica, cycling from times gone by on the day of the 100th anniversary of radio

“Only one man is in command, his shirt is white and blue: his name is Fausto Coppi”. The phrase is so famous that it has become a figure of speech. During the 1949 Giro d’Italia it came out on the radios around which millions of Italians followed and imagined the exploits of their cycling heroes. On the other hand, right from its debut the radio was immediately about music but also a lot of sport, especially cycling. Lots of cycling. The epic cycling that took place on dirt roads, in the dust, with an entire population “sitting on top of a kerbstone” waiting.

Radio and heroic cycling

These are exactly the white roads of the Eroica, between Chianti and Val d’Orcia, which this year is being staged on the centenary of the first radio broadcast in Italy, on 6 October 1924. There could not have been a better conjunction. Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th October is the now – one might say – best known cycling event in the world. It is in its 26th edition, with a much more complex organization than the handful of enthusiasts who met in 1997 on a – crazy and fascinating – idea of ​​Giancarlo Brocci: building the Chianti Cycling Park, adding the sporting offer to a territory already so rich in values ​​to experience it all year round, but especially the first week of October, on old bicycles, wearing woolen sweaters, pedaling on dirt roads like the cyclists of the first decades of the last century. 26 years have passed and it has become a great event. But, says Brocci, it has grown, it has not changed: “L’Eroica will never be a pleasant amarcord, a black and white cinema to which we have returned the colors to the computer. You have to prepare, you don’t invent anything on a bike, cycling is a style and a school of life in itself. Then there is the “rare humanity” effect, finding yourself among beautiful people and realizing that respect, education and smiles improve your life.”

Over 200 km, half of which are on dirt roads

These 205 kilometers of half-white (but carefully maintained) roads that wind from the Sienese Chianti, to the Val d’Arbia, to the Val d’Orcia, up to Montalcino (and back) have become the secret dream in the drawer of mountain bike enthusiasts. two wheels all over the world. To test yourself on a track that evokes the black and white photos of the Giri d’Italia with the champions covered in dust, who passed through these roads (but now also of the great world classic Strade Bianche). They will travel a ring that has Radda in Chianti and Montalcino as its extreme points, crossing Gaiole (the meeting place), Castelnuovo Berardenga, Asciano, Pianella and Siena. We move from the landscapes of Chianti to the more rugged area of ​​Montalcino, to the Crete Senesi, Buonconvento. To return to villages, vineyards, castles and hills up to Gaiole.

But also 4 shorter alternative routes

But there is the possibility of four shorter routes. All punctuated by refreshment points transformed into a triumph of Tuscan cuisine (there is also ribollita and tomato soup) where you don’t rush by for a “refuel”, but sit down in company to eat. In some of the most beautiful and famous landscape scenarios in the world. And so the “disease” of competitive spirit as an end in itself is defeated. The organizers have been repeating it like a mantra for a quarter of a century: “In the final rankings the first always has a surname that begins with A and the last with Z”. There’s a little story that sums it all up. The owner of a farm in Pieve a Salti where there is a mid-course refreshment point tells it: “In recent years the third to arrive was a very strong German cyclist. He looked around, in front of him was Montalcino in a beautiful light. He got off the bike, asked for a ribollita and remained there for a long time, sitting calmly and eating. He would have thought about the race later…”.

9000 cyclists from 52 countries

This year there will be around 9000 cyclists from fifty-two countries: In order of number of participants: Italy, Germany, Switzerland, United Kingdom, France, Austria, Poland, United States, Belgium, Netherlands, Czech Republic, Spain, Canada, Hungary, Australia, England, Sweden, Brazil, Luxembourg, Ireland, Slovenia, Denmark, Romania, Norway, Monaco, Greece, United Arab Emirates, Finland, Malta, Portugal, Croatia, Estonia, San Marino, Serbia, Russia, Mexico, Scotland , Bulgaria, New Zealand, Cayman Islands, Uruguay, Wales, Liechtenstein, Slovakia, Swaziland, Japan, Albania, South Africa, Latvia, Lithuania, Panama, Qatar. No continent is excluded. Just over half are Italians, from every province, but more than 1500 are Germans at the start, almost 400 from Switzerland, 300 from the English and almost 200 from the Americans. Then, all the other countries. I grab my calculator and it turns out that L’Eroica is increasingly becoming a destination for experiencing Tuscany as a nice trip to Italy from across the border. In fact, 42% of those enrolled come from abroad, 13% are women, translated into numbers: almost 1200. The youngest among the men, in this case the boys, is Giorgio, from Rome, enrolled in the shortest route, the Walk in the Chianti Valley. The youngest foreigner is Jan, and he comes from the city of Tulce, Poland. The youngest Italian registered is Ludovica, a fourteen year old from Siena while from abroad there is a thirteen year old arriving from London (but her name is Anna and there is little doubt about her origins). Reversing the list of participants we find Emilio, 84 years old who comes from Florence. The youngest foreigner, 82 year old Louis, arrives from Strasbourg. Among the women, the youngest Italian member is Luciana from Milan, the foreigner Petra, from Frankfurt.

And we tell the routes of this great bike festival which already started on Wednesday with many events, meetings and the now famous “bike, spare parts and vintage clothing market” in Gaiole in Chianti. Only a part of the nine thousand registered participants will set off before dawn on Saturday 5th from Gaiole to return after 209 kilometres. The others will be distributed on the medium route “Crete senesi” of 132, and on Sunday 6th on the routes “Cento anni di Radio” (106), “Gallo Nero” (81), “Valle del Chianti” (46).

For those who just want to smell the perfume of Eroica there will be a long live broadcast on television. On Sunday 6 October, Rai will broadcast the images live first on RAI 3, from 9.00 to 9.40, then on RaiSport, from 9.40 to 12.00. But there will also be correspondents from Radio1 and Isoradio to celebrate 100 years of Italian Radio together. Do you remember? “Only one man is in command…”.