"Great start from the sea up to the foothills of the Apennines, a Giro d'Italia that will touch all the provinces of Abruzzo"
, this is how Mauro Vegni, director of the Giro d'Italia, introduced the Grand Start in Abruzzo of the Giro d'Italia 2023 to L'Aquila, scheduled for 6 May from the Costa dei Trabocchi to Fossacesia in the province of Chieti.
The presentation, preceding that of all the stages scheduled for October, was organized by the Abruzzo Region, the main actor of this enterprise.
For the second time in history, after 2001, the Corsa Rosa will start from the Abruzzo region.
The first and second stages will take place entirely on the territory, the third, departing from Vasto, will head south while the seventh will return to Abruzzo ending at 2135 meters of the Gran Sasso d'Italia (Campo Imperatore).
The Abruzzese Trek-SegafredoTruck cyclists Giulio Ciccone and Dario Cataldo, the first from Chieti and the second from Miglianico (CH), took part in the presentation.
At the start there will be an individual time trial of 18.4 km on the Costa dei Trabocchi from Fossacesia Marina (almost entirely on the cycle path) to Ortona.
The second stage will be suitable for sprinters and will take the group from Teramo to San Salvo (7 May).
The next day the caravan will greet Abruzzo with a stage that will start from Vasto heading south before returning to the territory on Friday 12 May with the seventh fraction that will end on the Gran Sasso d'Italia (Campo Imperatore).
For the fourth year in a row Abruzzo will host an uphill finish.
It should be noted that on the last two occasions the stage winner,
"A prologue on the Trabocchi coast is something special because I train there every day, something incredible on an emotional level," says Cataldo.
"I will enjoy the weather and the roads on this time trial", jokes the climber Ciccone, underlining: "A departure from the coast of the trabocchi is a dream come true for us cyclists from Abruzzo."
