Flat Stanley Went to Italy - Episode 3 - The “Giro d’Italia”
Note from Ermes: If you don’t know Flat Stanley, you can find his presentation to the community in this post: Flat Stanley Went to Italy - the prologue
The “Giro d’Italia”
Hello, my name is Stanley, “Flat” Stanley.
I was drawn two months ago in california, then my classmates then put me in an envelope, and I reached Ermes in Italy.
One week ago Ermes was watching the “Giro d’Italia” (in English: “Tour of Italy”) on TV. What I saw was many cyclists, all dressed in bright colors, riding a bicycle in narrow streets, with many people around, enthusiastically cheering them on.
It seemed impossible to think that, with all those people around, those funny cyclists could proceed without falling. Also because it’s true that they were funny, but they went at breakneck speed, and they did it for many miles, on climbs that seemed tiring to me even on foot .
Why is everything pink?
I could think of a lot of questions to ask Ermes: What is the Giro d’Italia? What is it for? Why do they pass in those narrow and dangerous streets instead of traveling in wide flat streets? But I waited to ask, hoping that while I was watching the race I would understand by myself.
At one point the scene on television changed: The cyclists were now going through a village, and on the side of the road everything was colored pink. There were silhouettes of bicycles, silhouettes of animals, pink bicycles hanging from the railings of the houses and from the light poles. Everything was pink. These are crazy, I was thinking, and besides, why is everything pink?
While all these questions were spinning in my head I saw one thing and I froze. “Hey, I know that place!” I said to Ermes, “We were there last week photographing the flowers” (As a reference: Flat Stanley - Biodiversity Day 2023 - Share your Biodiversity .
Can we go there?
“Can we go back there?” I asked. The answer was “yes, we’ll go tomorrow”.
Yes! Yes! Yes! I couldn’t wait for tomorrow!!
What is the Giro d’Italia?
During the trip I asked all those questions that I had in mind, and I learned that:
The “Giro d’Italia” is a cycling race in stages, which crosses all of Italy, from North to South and back. In Europe there are three great stage races, and they are called “The Grand Tour”:
- The “Tour de France”, in France
- The Vuelta in Spain
- The “Giro d’Italia” in Italy.
All three last three weeks, and the strongest cyclists in the world participate.
These races pass through secondary roads and small villages, so that these unknown villages for one day have a lot of notoriety and are seen on television. For this reason each village spends days preparing for the event, in order to show the best of itself on television, even if only for a few minutes. All inhabitants and businesses participate in this preparation.
Pink is the color of the “Giro d’Italia” because the sports magazine that invented it (in 1909) has pink pages. The color of the Tour de France is Yellow, and Red is the color of the Vuelta. The race leader wears the pink jersey.
Now I understand, that’s why everything is pink, and that’s why the animals. We are in a mountain village, where there are sheep, deer, fawns, foxes and bears. I like it.
We arrived and took a lot of photos, and on this occasion I went to meet the inhabitants who most resemble me. They are made of wood and cloth. Not really my brothers, but still my cousins, right?
I’m definitely impressed, it’s all beautiful, and I can’t wait to tell my brothers about it.
Google Maps and the race
But I still have questions to ask, and this time I want to put him in difficulty. "Can you tell me the route of today’s race", I asked him then?
Instead, he doesn’t worry at all, and in a few minutes he shows me the route in Google Maps, with the distance to cover (162 Km), the time for a cyclist (13 hours and 3 minutes) and also how much one has to climb (3928 meters) and descend (2428 meters).
“13 hours? Are we crazy?” I say. “No, the winner did it in 4 hours and 25 minutes. But he’s a champion, and Google Maps is made for regular people like you and me”
Ok, I get it, and just thinking about it already makes me feel tired .
Do you like cycling?
And you? Do you like cycling? Are there bicycle races in your country?
Here in Italy I’ve seen a lot of people on bicycles, and a lot of cycle paths (but I’ll tell you about this another time) . Now it’s time for you to tell me.
I had a beautiful day, and I just wanted to tell you. Bye, see you soon with another adventure
Stanley, “Flat” Stanley