Giro-E Enel 2025 – Stage 8 Sassuolo – Castelnovo ne’ Monti

Gnocco fritto, crescentine, stria, tortellini, zampone, cotechino, erbazzone, tiramolla caramelised sugar, lambrusco wine, and sassolino anise liqueur. Sassuolo is truly full of delicious food. The city is located 17 kilometres south-west of Modena, the capital of ceramics and tiles and a place of perdition for food lovers. The seventh stage of the Giro-E Enel 2025 will be starting here. The cyclists, either with their traditional or electric bikes, will of course need to have a light meal as there is a lot of cycling to do. Especially today. Yesterday, the cycling wasn’t too difficult. Today, on the other hand, things got serious, with the stage finishing in Castelnovo ne’ Monti in the Apennines after a massive 1,700 kilometres of elevation gain. Besides its rich cuisine, Sassuolo has much more to offer. Visitors must see the Ducal Palace, Piazza Garibaldi with its porticoes and drainage canals, the Cathedral of San Giorgio, the city’s patron saint, as well as the Montegibbio Castle, built on the hill to defend the Canossian territories. Visitors who wish to cycle can access the Percorso Natura Secchia near the Parco Ducale, by taking Via dei Moli: here they will find a path for walking and cycling along the Secchia river where people can engage in recreational activities and play sports while enjoying some fresh air. They can walk, run or cycle, while rediscovering the natural charm of nature around the Secchia river. Many celebrities and prominent figures were born in Sassuolo, ranging from pop singer Nek to Cardinal Camillo Ruini.

The Sassuolo-Castelnovo ne’ Monti stage

There are no extreme obstacles, yet this is nevertheless a challenging stage, with many kilometres of elevation gain. The eighth, from Sassuolo to Castelnovo ne’ Monti, is the only stage taking place exclusively in Emilia-Romagna, as tomorrow’s stage finish will be in Viadana, Lombardy. Giro-E, as usual, covers the final part of the very long route of the Giro (186 kilometres), which is starting from Viareggio today, skipping a huge cycling feat: the climb up Alpe San Pellegrino, 8.8 kilometres at an 8.8% average gradient with peaks of 19-20%, the toughest part of the 108^th edition of the Giro. The Giro-E cyclists have taken on two major challenges today: the climb in Toiano, 11 kilometres at a 5.5% average gradient, and the one in Pietra di Bismantova, 5.8 kilometres at a 5.8% average. Overall, however, the participants never stopped cycling up and down hills, which without motors and batteries would have killed many a leg. And this is where all the magic of Giro-E comes from.

Personality of the day – Andrea Spezialetti

Andrea Spezialetti spent 16 seasons as a professional. He quit in 2012 but remained in the cycling world. Today he is the sporting director of Wagner-Bazin WB, a professional team from Belgium. He was also the captain of the Turdor Team at Giro-E Enel 2024.

“What I like about Giro-E is that it’s exciting. The participants feel as though they are competing in the Giro d’Italia. They enter our wonderful world. They enjoy a day devoted to cycling, where everything is completely safe and there is no traffic. Cycling is a great sport and it’s also the most important thing in my life. I’ve been cycling for 50 years. I started competing when I was eight years old and I’ve never stopped since, not even when I ended my professional career. When I’m home I go cycling and I cycle whenever I can. E-bikes are nice. As everyone knows, if you don’t cycle at least three hours a day, you don’t really enjoy cycling. Pedal-assisted bikes can be a great asset for cyclists. I’ve competed in 14 Giri d’Italia – I don’t know how many kilometres that amounts to. But if I stop cycling for a month, it feels as though I’ve never cycled in my life. On the other hand, with an electric bike you can take on a challenging climb, such as the Lanciano Pass we have here, which would be impossible if you didn’t cycle regularly. E-bikes enable you to do anything, to go anywhere. If you’ve charged the battery, of course!”

ANCI Talk in Reggio Emilia with MOST on youth, mobility, active citizenship and sport

The Giro-E ANCI Stakeholder Forums are set to continue on Thursday 22 May with the fourth in the series, this time in Reggio Emilia – the start of Stage 9.

For this talk, the National Association of Italian Municipalities (ANCI) is teaming up with the National Centre for Sustainable Mobility (MOST), as part of a wider programme of activities for Italian municipalities funded by the National Fund for Youth Policies.

The title of the Reggio Emilia Stakeholder Forum is “Youth, sustainable mobility, active citizenship and sports pathways”. It will take place in the Green Fun Village hospitality area from 13:00 and feature “Smart Cycling: How technology puts bikes into the mobility of the future” and some of the scientific work carried out in the National Centre for Sustainable Mobility.

The goal of the Giro-E ANCI Stakeholder Forums is to use sport and sporting values to increase youth participation at major sporting events while promoting local cultural and natural resources as well as food and wine, as these are considered drivers of sustainable local development.

The meeting is part of the initiatives ANCI is running at Giro d’Italia 2025 within the framework of the wider programme of support and funding for Italian municipalities provided by the National Fund for Youth Policies.

Click here for information on and to register for the Stakeholder Forums.

Click here to see the Giro-E standings.