Garda Cycling Events Boost Local Economy and Tourism Development
Conquering the world of two wheels for sport passion, but also for tourism and economic opportunities. After all, just look around: the roads of Garda and the surrounding inland areas are increasingly dominated by cycling enthusiasts, both for traditional road biking and mountain biking.
In this context, the space dedicated to races and major professional events also represents a tourism investment, due to their media appeal. Malcesine understood this, as for the third consecutive year, after the event hosted by the Comune di Torri in 1998, it hosted the stage finish of the Giro Ciclistico del Trentino yesterday, a spring classic, with a significant financial commitment.
The role of local support and sporting events
“Money that still stays within the local economy,” clarifies Ferdinando Sbizzera, after handing Giuliano Figueras the white jersey awarded to the first classified among the young. So, a well-established «marriage» with the Trentini? “Certainly, since it’s a classic,” stresses the councilor for culture and finance, “and with the aim of keeping the sensations alive, but also to stimulate and attract other sporting activities, from sailing to mountain biking, trekking to paragliding, increasingly popular among tourists.”
Similarly, his colleague Councilor Carlo Chincarini shares this view, though he was preoccupied with Laurent Dufaux, the Swiss stage winner by a handful of seconds over Spanish rider Jose Luis Arrieta and Italian Stefano Garzelli.
Competitors’ situation and upcoming stages
Fierce expressions and negative signals from the «pirate» Marco Pantani, pressured by journalists and targeted by photographers and TV cameras, to see if he can recover the six-minute deficit still evident from the opening stage, Tione-Montagne Passo Daone, considered the most challenging of all four stages of the 2001 edition of the race in Trentino.
In stark contrast, Francesco Casagrande, leader of the provisional standings, with about a one-minute advantage over his closest rivals, is in a different mood. He claimed victory in the first stage and plans to maintain his lead tomorrow, at the end of the final race, Malcesine-Arco, covering 176 kilometers.
The start is scheduled for 10:30 a.m., with the caravan heading toward Garda, expected to pass around 11:00, then through Costermano reaching Caprino (around 11:20), and descending again into the Val d’Adige at Zuane, with a projected pass around 11:50 at Brentino Belluno.
After crossing Ala, the riders will continue toward Rovereto and Trento via the left bank of the Adige, then return toward Rovereto at Mori, on the river’s right side, and reach Nago and Torbole via the depression of the former Loppio lake, then Riva and finally finish in Arco, after completing a double circuit in the Basso Sarca plain, around 3:00 p.m.
Comments and tourism outlook
Expressions of satisfaction for these events also come from Marco Zaninelli, extraordinary commissioner of the Tourism Promotion Agency, who stated that “these events effectively extend the tourist season.”