BUONGIORNO FROM MARINA DI SAN SALVO AND THE GIRO D’ITALIA MAGLIA ROSA AT STAKE IN A MINIATURE CLIMBERS’ CLASSIC

Marina di San Salvo, 10 May 2013 – Welcome to Stage 7 of the Giro d’Italia, a hilly and challenging mini-classic with dozens of gruelling ramps, four of them categorised for the Maglia Azzurra competition, and then a highly technical descent towards the finish line. 202 riders started the stage this morning (riders 64, Klass Lodewyck, of BMC Racing Team, and 163, Leigh Howard, of Orica – GreenEdge, did not start). The peloton passed km 0 at 12:41.

WEATHER FORECAST Bright sunshine at Marina di San Salvo. Possible scattered showers on the route, and cloudy at . Temperatures from 21 to 25 degrees Celsius.

RACE ROUTE A stage through the Apennine Mountains. The final section of the race route sees more than 2600 m of vertical altitude gain over a succession of short climbs and ramps. The first part is rolling, with only one long climb: Paglieta (km 51.5). After the fixed feed-zone at Guardiagrele (km 91.3), there are a number of sharp ramps: Bucchianico (max. gradient 15%), Villamagna (GPM), -Pietragrossa (max. 16% - GPM), Chieti-Tricalle (max. 19% - Intermediate sprint), Santa Maria de Criptis (max. 16% - GPM) and San Silvestro (max. 14% - GPM). The final climb is just over 7 km from the finish line. Last kms: Final climb 7500 m from the finish line. Technical descent with hairpins. Final 4 km mostly flat with only two curves (the last, 2200 m from the finish line). Finish line after a straight section lasting 1700 m. Road width 7.5 m, surfaced with asphalt.

AROUND THE RACE: Bucchianico (km 112): the birth place of Saint Camillus de Lellis, an Italian priest who founded the Camillians, a group of health care workers to assist soldiers on the battlefield. The large, red cross on their cassock remains a symbol of the Congregation today. It was the original Red Cross, hundreds of years before the International Red Cross Organization was formed.

Ripa Teatina (km 131): associated with sport, and especially boxing, and the great heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano, world champion from 1952 to 1956 and the only boxer to have retired undefeated. Rocky’s real name was Rocco Francis Marchegiano (1923-1969). He was born in the U.S.A. to Italian parents. His father Pierino was a native of Ripa Teatina, a village known and loved by the champion. A bronze statue commemorates him. Another boxer born here in 1953, before emigrating, very young, to is Rocco ‘Rocky’ Mattioli, WBC Light Middleweight champion in 1997.

Pescara: ’s most populous town. It was created in 1927 from the fusion of Castellamare Adriatico, on the left bank of the river of the same name, and the small village of Pescara, on the right bank. The Province of Pescara was founded as an administrative unit, at the same time, thanks to the influence of the Pescara native Gabriele d’Annunzio (1863-1938), the polymath poet, novelist and politician.

GIro stage winners at Pescara: Ernesto Azzini (1912), Ezio Corlaita (1919), Alfredo Sivocci (1922), Alfredo Binda (1927 and 1931), Marco Cimatti (1937), Adolfo Leoni (1939), Oreste Conte (1947), Antonio Bevilacqua (1948), Giuseppe Minardi (1951), Arrigo Padovan (1956), Antonin Rolland (1957), Salvador Botella (1960), Guido Carlesi (1963), Freddy Maertens (1977), Silvano Contini (1982), Rik Verbrugghe (2001).

THE JERSEYS MAGLIA ROSA: Luca Paolini (KAT) MAGLIA ROSSA (Points): Mark Cavendish (OPQ) MAGLIA AZZURRA (Mountains): Giovanni Visconti (KAT) MAGLIA BIANCA (Young Rider): Fabio Aru (AST)

TELEVISION COVERAGE The 2013 Giro d’Italia is broadcast in 174 countries around the world. In Giro programming starts at 14.00 on RaiSport 1, going live at 15.05. Stage and post-stage programme ‘Processo alla Tappa’ 15.06-18.05 (RaiTre + RaiSport 1 simulcast).

For schedules and further details of international programming, visit the websitehttp://bit.ly/1117PcB

Info:

SHIFT Active Media Stefano Diciatteo

RCS Sport cycling press office RCS Sport press office coordinator Ph. (+44) 01225 448333 Ph.: (+39) 02 62828758 Ph.: (+39) 348 5838779 Mob.: (+39)347 9945899 E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Tw.: @Shiftactive Tw.: @stedicia