Giro-E ENEL 2024, what a success story!

Milan, 30 May 2024 – Closing in style. In the Grande Bellezza, or Great Beauty, of Rome the eternal city and Italian capital, which is playing host to the Great Arrival for the second year in a row. Despite the 1,166 kilometres travelled overall and the 19,850 metres of height gain over the 20 stages, the Giro-E riders will arrive much less exhausted than the Giro professionals. This is because the participants change every day, except for the captains of each team, and because their bikes are e-bikes, with a battery and a motor that provides pedalling assistance until they exceed 25 kilometres an hour. And that’s the secret recipe behind achieving feats that seem almost human for casual riders, like climbing to the Sanctuary of Oropa, Prati di Tivo, Livigno and Sappada, as they did this year, along gradients which, without engines in the frames or in the back wheel hub, would require endless hours of training.

These magic vehicles have, for a century and a half, represented the future. And the Giro-E, now in its sixth edition, is the ambassador for the electric version, for non-sport, but rather cycle-tourism and urban mobility use. One of the most significant aspects of the event, besides the amazing experiences of the participants (who, for one day, race along the roads travelled by the Giro d’Italia like true champions, pedalling without traffic and crossing the finish line right under the triumphant arches of the Pink Race), is the fact that it draws attention to the exceptional relevance of e-bikes.

The presence of so many ministers at the E-Giro (the Minister of the Economy and Finance, Giancarlo Giorgetti, the Minister for Agriculture, food sovereignty and forests, Francesco Lollobrigida, the Minister for Sport and Youth, Andrea Abodi), the many partnerships with Ministries, with ENIT – the National Tourism Agency, with ANCI – the National Association of Italian Councils, with MOST – the National Centre for Sustainable mobility, reflect the significance the event has now achieved. Above and beyond its cycling and sporting importance, it is of cultural value, because in addition to issues such as sustainable mobility, it also showcases renewable energy, ecology and the regions of Italy.

The captains were amazing – an increasingly numerous and closely knit group, with a glorious list of honours: Damiano Cunego, Igor Astarloa, Andrea Tafi, Gianni Bugno, Claudio Chiappucci, Sonny Colbrelli , Sacha Modolo, Marco Canola; as well as many regulars and a few new entries, such as Elisa Scarlatta and Violette Neza, Michela Galli and Alessandra Fior, Giorgio Rocca, , Amedeo Tabini, Lello Ferrara, Iader Fabbri, Giuseppe Bica, Umberto Carfora, Andrea Ziliani and Emiliano Cantagallo who win with his team the Blue jersey of the general classificatio.

And many sports personalities and celebrities also joined the Enel Giro-E 2024 group: the Olympic medallists Arianna Valcepina, Pietro Sighel, Stefano Battistelli and Simone Venier, who join Guardia di Finanza team in the 250 years of the fondation of the group, the volleyball world champion Rachele Sangiuliano, the Formula 1 driver Giancarlo Fisichella, the Giro d’Italia winners Ivan Gotti and Pavel Tonkov, the World Superbike racer Andrea Locatelli, the ultra-cyclist Omar Di Felice, the para-athlete Alessandro Ossola, the President of the Piedmont Region Alberto Cirio, the Head of Cabinet at the Ministry of Tourism Erika Guerri, the Advisor for youth and sports issues of the Minister for Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani (and former Milan and Naples striker) Giuseppe Incocciati, the deputy chairman of ANCI Roberto Pella, the RAI journalist Valentina Bisti, the showgirl Justine Mattera, the actor Sergio Savastano, the chairman of the FCI (Italian Cycling Federation) Cordiano Dagnoni.

The final stage in Rome was attended by an incredible number of people (and also participants in the Giro-E: it was the record stage of the 2024 edition, with 160 cyclists, including the Vatican Cycling team, the Athletica Vaticana cycling federation – its second participation after last year, also in Rome). Besides the Giro d’Italia 107 and the Giro-E, it was also the second edition of the Giro d’Italia – Family Ride, a non-competitive ride open to all families over a 6.8 kilometre circuit closed off to the traffic (over 4,000 cyclists of all ages took part) and the Cycling Cup, a promotional event organised by the Cycling Federation in conjunction with the Lazio Regional Committee of Federciclismo and with the support of the Ministry for Sport and Youth.

There were also record numbers at the Green Fun Village Continental, now in its second edition, which entertained the city at the starting line of the Enel Giro-E 2024. The formula includes ‘fun’ content and a particular focus on providing information about issues such as mobility and sustainability.

Roberto Salvador, the director of the Giro-E, had this to say: “An exceptional edition in terms of team participation, audiences at the starting line and Green Fun Village activities is now done and dusted. The second year of our starting line village was a great success, with a great number of stands and daily workshops organised by ANCI, which were all sold out”.

WORKSHOP ANCI – National Association of Italian Councils

The ANCI experience at the Giro d’Italia and the Giro-E has closed on a positive note, developed to bolster opportunities for economic and social integration for new generations, by enhancing the vast resources of Italy and the sustainable development of its local areas and communities, even during major sports events, thanks to the huge impetus that sport can provide when used to improve social infrastructure.

While the ANCI cycling teams showed the active commitment of our managers to promoting issues such as environmental sustainability, social inclusion and local development, a particularly important aspect has been the experience of the ANCI workshops in the Municipality where the Giro-E stages began, which ranged from urban areas to small towns, villages and mountain areas, from Turin to Tolmezzo.

“It has been such a great opportunity to engage and work with local administrators, companies, associations and cooperatives”, says the Deputy General Secretary of ANCI, Antonella Galdi. “We’ll now be able to carefully assess the generational impact of our activities, thanks to a survey carried out together with Nativa and Rcs Sport. But it is already clear that this has been a phenomenally successful experiment that will be repeated next year, as we try to improve it through the suggestions received during the workshops and from the many administrators who have accompanied us on this journey”.

The series of workshops, forming part of the broader support and funding programme of the Italian Councils backed by the National Youth Policy Fund and achieved thanks to Agreements with the Department for Youth Policies and Universal Civil Service of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, underlined the importance of the public/private network, capable of implementing measures with an increasing impact on young people, improving their active engagement in public policies and enhancing local resources and drivers of sustainable development.

MOST – Centre for Sustainable Mobility

The participation of Most, the Centre for Sustainable Mobility, at the Giro-E 2024 proved both successful and innovative. Thanks to the essential contribution of Bergamo University and Prof. Paolo Malighetti, in conjunction with Prof. Alessandra Falmmini of the University of Brescia and Prof. Italo Meloni of the University of Cagliari, it was possible to cover all 20 stages of the tour with state-of-the-art technological solutions. The ‘on board’ sensor system on the Olmo bike, which included accelerometers, gyroscopes, TV cameras and environmental sensors enabled close monitoring of and consequent improvements to the smart-bike. The mobile reloading station, with 8-10 stalls charged using photovoltaic panels, the portable prototype capable of recharging bicycles and mobile phones and 3D-printed aluminium components for the controlled stiffness shock absorbers were key innovations that can help improve the cycling experience. MOST also took part in the Green Fun Village with an interactive stand, involving 20 students, researchers and doctoral students from the above-mentioned universities, who collected information and data from tests carried out on a bike roller with assisted pedalling, by observing the frame deformations in real time and issuing questionnaires on environmental sustainability and cycling to the participants, helping to seek out new prospects and innovations in the field of light mobility.

GIRO-E ENEL 2024 – WINNER’S JERSEY

Blue jersey – General classification: Sara Assicurazioni
Light blue Jersey – Time trial ranking: Enjoy Abruzzo
MAGLIA ARANCIO – Compactness ranking: Continental
MAGLIA VERDE-RIDE GREEN – Regularity ranking: Wonders-Autostrade per l’Italia
MAGLIA ROSSA – Master jersey: Carglass
MAGLIA BIANCA – Young jersey: Yamaha