BUONGIORNO FROM SASSANO AND STAGE 6 OF THE GIRO D’ITALIA The longest stage, concluding with 8.5 km climb to historic Montecassino. Sassano, 15 May 2014 - Buongiorno from Stage 6 of the Giro d’Italia, a 247 km giant from Sassano to the Abbey at Montecassino, towering over the surrounding valley. The peloton of the Giro d’Italia, now 194 strong, passed km 0 at 1053 hrs (132 Giorgio Cecchinel did not start). ROUTE AMENDMENT Due to an uncleared landslide near Polla (Salerno), it has been necessary to amend the race route. At km 20.1, the race will take the road parallel to the published route as far as the RA5 slip road, returning to the published route at km 51.7. This diversion adds 10 km to the length of the stage now 257 km. The start time has therefore been brought forward by 15’ to 10.45 am. In compliance with Race Regulations, there will be two feed zones, located in Bellizzi (Salerno) km 88 ÷ 91 and in Casapulla (Caserta) km 179 ÷ 182. Download updated map and schedule via the link at the foot of this communication. JERSEYS Maglia Rosa – Balocco: Michael Matthews (Orica GreenEdge) Maglia Rossa – Algida: Elia Viviani (Cannondale) Maglia Bianca – F.lli Orsero: Michael Matthews (Orica GreenEdge) Maglia Azzurra – Banca Mediolanum: Maarten Tjallingii (Belkin) WEATHER FORECAST Sassano: changeable, 15.1°C. Wind: 13 km/h N. Cava de’ Tirreni: clear skies, scattered showers, 20.6°C. Wind: 9 km/h NW. Maddaloni: clear skies, scattered showers, 20.7°C. Wind: 4 km/h NNW. Cassino: clear skies, scattered showers, 19.2°C. Wind: 4 km/h N. RACE ROUTE Mostly flat prior to the final climb, and very long. Rolling sections early on, then passing through Salerno, Cava de’ Tirreni (km 112.8, cat. 4 climb), Maddaloni (km 168.4) intermediate sprint), before Cassino and the start of the final climb. FInal kms The climb is approximately 8.5 km long with an average gradient of 5% touching a maximum of 9%. After a number of hairpins on the lower slopes, the road spirals the mountain. The final section is much less steep. The final 40m, on 6-m wide asphalt, describe a slight curve.. AROUND THE RACE Flowers and football: Sassano (stage start) lies in what is known as “orchid country” for its springtime flowers. its pretty narrow streets are known as ‘carrare.’ Birthplace of the footballer Giuseppe Bruscolotti (b. 1 June 1961), former Napoli captain (succeeded by Maradona). Cycling dynasty: Salsa Consilina (km 3.1) hosted the finish of Stage 2 of the 1990 Giro d’Italia, won by Giovanni Fidanza, 1989 Giro points winner and father of current rider Arianna Fidanza. A literary stage: after ireland’s literary richness, today’s route touches on some classics of Italian literature. Eboli (km 77.6): In his autobiographical novel ‘Cristo si è fermato a Eboli’ (Eng. ‘Christ stopped at Eboli,’ 1945), Carlo Levi described the backwardness of life in nearby Basilicata, where, a decade earlier, he had gone into hiding for political reasons. At the time, the railway and the paved roads stopped at Eboli. Calvi Vecchia (km 199.8): the Sardinian thinker Antonio Gramsci was incarcerated in the Taverna della Catena prison here. At his trial, Mussolini’s prosecutor stated, "For twenty years we must stop this brain from functioning". Gramsci’s Prison Notebooks, and even more so the beautiful, reflective Prison Letters, are classics of modern Italian literature. Montecassino: In December 1942, some 1,400 irreplaceable manuscript codices, chiefly patristic and historical, in addition to a vast number of documents relating to the history of the abbey and the collections of the Keats-Shelley Memorial House in Rome, had been sent to the abbey archives for safekeeping. Fortunately, German officers Lt. Col. Julius Schlegel (a Roman Catholic) and Capt. Maximilian Becker (a Protestant), both from the Panzer- Division Hermann Göring, had them transferred to the Vatican at the beginning of the battle. The abbey towers over a valley that includes the town of Aquino, birthplace of Thomas Aquinas, the genius of the medieval renaissance, who attempted to synthesise Aristotelian philosophy with the principles of Christianity. Mozzarella and tomato: Battipaglia (km 84.6) is the home of authentic mozzarella. while the San Marzano tomato, considered by many the best purée tomato in the world, is associated with Sarno (km 130.3). The first seed is said to have been provided as a gift from the Viceroy of Peru to the Kingdom of Naples in 1770, and to have been planted at San Marzano sul Sarno. Allocchio at Salerno (km 104.8): The University of Salerno has its origins in the famous Salerno Medical School, the world's first, founded in the 9th century and for hundreds of years the most important source of medical knowledge in Western Europe. The Allied landing on mainland Italy (Operation Avalanche) took place at Salerno on 3 September 1943, by General Harold Alexander's 15th Army Group. From February 12 to July 17, 1944, Salerno was the temporary "Capital of the Kingdom of Italy", and the King Victor Emmanuel III lived in a mansion in its outskirts. Salerno has a long association with the Corsa Rosa (15 stage finishes). Alfonso Gatto, one of the foremost Italian poets of the 20th century with Giuseppe Ungaretti and Eugenio Montale, wrote beautifully about the Giro d’Italia just after World War 2 in the Communist newspaper L’Unità: ‘All first across the finish-line of my heart.’ More recently, current Giro d’Italia race director Stefano Allocchio was a stage winner at Salerno in 1985. Denmark’s Ralf Sorensen won here in 1995. Cava de’ Tirreni (km 112.8): Birth place of Gino Palumbo (b. 1921), former director of the Gazzetta dello Sport. 3 stage finishes (1984 Dag Erik Pedersen / Mario Manzoni 1997 / Matt Goss in 2010). Nola (km 146.9): In sight of Vesuvius, Nola is the birthplace of the Renaissance genius Giordano Bruno (1548- Rome 1600), Dominican friar, philosopher, mathematician, poet, and astrologer, celebrated for his cosmological theories, which correctly proposed that the Sun was just another star moving in space, and that the universe contained an infinite number of inhabited worlds, identified as planets orbiting other stars. He was burnt at the stake in Rome’s Campo de’ Fiori. Nola is the place of death of Saint Paulinus (Bordeaux 355 - Nola 431), the Bishop considered the originator of the ecclesiastical use of bells. UNESCO World Heritage Sites (Caserta, km 175.8): the Reggia Borbonica, the Belvedere Reale di San Leucio and the Caroline Aqueduct were listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1997. 4 Giro d’Italia stage finishes (1964 Giorgio Zancanaro / 1982 Urs Freuler / 1994 Marco Saligari / 2002 Mario CIpollini). Santa Maria Capue Vetere (km 182.7): greatest and wealthiest city in Italy in Cicero’s time, according to the great orator’s own writings, and home of the second biggest amphitheatre in the Roman Empire after the Colosseum in Rome. Giro d’Italia stage finish in 1988 (Guido Bontempi). Montecassino (km 257): St. Benedict of Nursia established his first monastery, the source of the Benedictine Order, 520 m (1,706.04 ft) over the town of Cassino around the year 529. It was the site of the 1944 Battle of Monte Cassino, a costly series of four assaults by the Allies against the Winter Line in Italy held by Axis forces of World War II, the intention being to breakthrough to Rome. In co-ordinated military operations, British, French, American, Indian, New Zealand, Moroccan and Polish Regiments converged on key German strongholds. The abbey was completely destroyed by Allied bombing, then rebuilt after the war according to its original specifications. At the foot of the rebuilt abbey, there are a number of war cemeteries. More than 16,000 soldiers from World War I and 107,000 from World War II, from 32 nations, are buried here. The Polish army finally won the battle for the allied forces, at great loss of life and knowing that their homeland had fallen to the Soviet army. Montecassino is an important place of Polish pilgrimage. Television The 2014 Giro d’Italia is broadcast in 171 countries across 5 continents. RAI, the Giro’s longstanding partner and host broadcaster, shows the stage in Italy on RaiSport 2 from 1400 hours (CET) and on RaiTre, in simulcast, from 1510. The stage is streamed on www.raisport.it, while www.gazzetta.it carries highlights, analysis and news updates. The Giro d’Italia is broadcast throughout Europe on Eurosport every day at 1430. In the UK, Sky Sports shows extended evening highlights with comment, interviews and live links. Elsewhere, the Giro d’Italia is broadcast by VRT/Sporza, TV2 Sporten, FORTA (TV3 Catalonia, TVG Galicia, TPA Asturias, EITB Basque Country), beIN Sports, NOS, SRG SSR, Sportsnet, RDS, TDN, ESPN Sur, ESPN Brasil, Al Jazeera, SuperSport, Eurosport Asia-Pacific, J Sports, Hy Sport, Sony SIX, TrueVisions, SBS, FOX Sports, and Sky Sport. News footage is distributed by SNTV. Info: SHIFT Active Media RCS Sport Matteo Cavazzuti Stefano Diciatteo RCS Sport cycling press office RCS Sport press office coordinator Ph. (+44) 01225 448333 Ph.: (+39) 02 25848758 Ph.: (+39) 348 5838779 Mob.: (+39) 335 5468466 E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Tw.: @Shiftactive - @MatCavazzuti Tw.: @rcssport - @stedicia .