Giro-E Enel 2026 – Stage 12 Assago – Milan

The Giro-E is skipping Voghera, where the professionals of the Giro d’Italia will be setting out from. Instead, our e-cyclists opted for a fun ride in the Pavia area, with an eye on the Milan-Sanremo route (but in the opposite direction), lapping the lands of Gianni Brera, paying tribute to Pavia and its Certosa monastery complex and then going straight to Milan at full speed. Our e-cyclists chose Assago as the start of stage 12, which officially marked the end of week two.

Assago, located in the Milan metropolitan area, is crossed by the A7 Milan-Serravalle motorway and the West Ring Road, as well as by the canal known as the Naviglio Pavese. Assago also houses two stops from the underground’s M2 line: Assago Milanofiori Nord and Assago Milanofiori Forum, named after Milan’s largest indoor sports arena. Assago’s history, however, is centred on agriculture (as it is located in the Rural Park South Milan) and the area features a rich network of rivers as well as many farmhouses. Great places to go cycling.

Here are some cycling references: from 1996 to 1999, the Unipol Forum arena in Assago hosted four editions of the Six Days of Milan, the most important track cycling race in the world). After a break of a few years, the latest edition was held in 2008.

For Milan, today’s event marks the 90th stage finish of the Giro d’Italia, a record that shows the deep bond between the city and the most important cycling race in Italy. It was an exciting experience for our e-cyclists as well, who after just over 50 kilometres and an elevation gain near zero crossed the finish line in Corso Venezia, right in the heart of the world capital of fashion and design.

There were many nice surprises among today’s participants. Max Pezzali’s entire band were part of the ETJCA TicketOne, with Davide Ferrario as captain: Marco Mariniello, Giorgio Mastrocola, Gherardo Tassi, Giordano Colombo, Alex Trecarichi, as well as Ferrario himself. Today’s guest star was 1993 motorcycling world champion Kevin Schwantz, who at the Green Fun Village was a source of curiosity for those in their thirties, excitement among those in their forties, joy for fifty-year-olds and real madness among sixty-year-olds.

Monday will be a rest day for the E-Giro cyclists.

The Assago-Milan stage

As is always the case in flat stages, it was a demanding one: do our cyclists ever just go 25 kilometres an hour, at which speed the motor stops supporting these audacious cyclists?

The route was not exactly unforgettable. After nearly 20 kilometres, it joined the fifteenth stage of the Giro d’Italia and entered the city at breakneck speed. Here our riders went through a constant bustle of squares: from Piazza Belfanti to Piazzale Loreto, as well as Piazzale Lodi.

A 16.3-kilometre circuit that they went through only once instead of four times, which is what the professionals did. Then, a single, endless but also very spectacular straight section, from Piazzale Loreto all along Buenos Aires Boulevard until the finish line, in Corso Venezia.

Starting this year, there are no more sprint finishes for the team captains at the Giro-E Enel; on such a long finishing straight, you know how they would have played it?

Personality of the day – Martina Riva

Martina Riva, Councillor for Sport, Tourism and Youth Policies of the Municipality of Milan, never misses a single sporting event held in the city. Today, she was met with applause and was present at the start of the Milan stage of the Giro-E Enel 2026. There, she got on her e-bike and raced together with her RCS Sport team. She is not used to riding racing bikes, but she does cycle around the city: she rides her bike every day to move around Milan.

“The Giro d’Italia coming to Milan once again puts bicycles at the centre of the city’s policies, as Milan truly is a bike-friendly city. We are proud of the series of events titled ‘Aspettiamo il Giro,’ which we created together with Milanosport and the Vigorelli Velodrome Committee: these events have brought youth cycling back to the Vigorelli, with the 2026 Trofeo Rosa involving hundreds of young athletes.

Having the Giro come through Milan is evidence of how successful our sustainable mobility and public transport policies have been, which we have supported over the years with major investments. The Municipality earmarks over one billion Euro out of the four billion available every year to public transport and active and sustainable mobility. Between 2020 and the present day, there has been a 47% increase in cycle routes, including paths, lanes and shared-use paths for pedestrians and cyclists. And that’s not all. During the Winter Olympics and thanks to a sponsorship worth 200 thousand Euro, the Vigorelli Velodrome track has been refurbished. Further works are required to obtain the final occupancy permit, which will be completed by next autumn.”