On a vivid, sunny day, ‘buonasera’ was the native greeting from the principle stage at Piazza Michelangelo in Florence, Italy for the Tour de France crew presentation. A procession of athletes from every collaborating crew rode bikes previous a large Michelangelo statue of David and have been launched in Italian and English from a yellow stage with the Apennine Mountains offering a dramatic backdrop.
Eight Italian riders obtained loud ovations from the house crowd as they have been a part of processions for seven groups, Astana Qazaqstan that includes Davide Ballerini and Michele Gazzoli. Six different groups have been comprised of 1 Italian rider every – Lidl-Trek with Giulio Ciccone, mountain classification jersey winner from 2023, Alberto Bettiol with EF Education-EasyPost, Luca Mozzato of Arkéa-B&B Hotels, Davide Formolo with Movistar, Gianni Moscon with Soudal-QuickStep and Matteo Sobrero of Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe.
The 111th version of the Tour de France begins in Florence, Italy, on Saturday, June 29 and ends three weeks later in Nice on Sunday, July 21. It is the primary time the Tour has began in Italy.
Christian Prudhomme, race director of the Tour de France, addressed the audiences, in individual alongside the banks of the Arno river and watching on an online solid, and thanked the three areas who would host the trio of phases to open the French Grand Tour – Tuscany, Emilia-Romagna and Piemonte. Each of the primary three phases have been featured in a video presentation on a large display within the piazza, and a full-length video of all 21 phases was broadcast, depicting the terrain for all 3497.3km with some 52,320 metres of elevation acquire throughout Italy and France within the subsequent three weeks.
From EF Education-EasyPost within the first slot to Visma-Lease a Bike, all 22 groups have been launched on the stage, with the setting solar casting shadows on defending champion Jonas Vingegaard as he spoke to the group along with his crew alongside.
“I’m very joyful to be right here in Florence. It’s superb to be right here. Being firstly line is in itself a victory for me,” the two-time Tour champion stated in reference to creating the Tour his first race again since struggling stunning accidents from a crash at Itzulia Basque Country in April.
Several squads used the stage as a form of catwalk to indicate off new kits for this yr’s Tour de France. Clad in gentle blue jerseys fairly than the standard pink was Arkéa-B&B Hotels. Cofids additionally took the stage in the identical pink and white signature colors however with a vertical bar on the chest for the title sponsor.
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Cyclingnews’ Josh Croxton was in attendance on the presentation and noticed new front-only tyres on the Van Rysel bikes of Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale, noting there have been no demarcation moreover the phrases ‘Continental Aero 111’ and ‘Aerodynamics by SwissSide’.
Astana, Mark Cavendish spoke Italian to the native crowd, which generated roars from the group as he famous he had only one extra victory to go to safe a file thirty fifth stage victory and set the brand new Tour de France file.
The new branding for Red Bull on kits and Specialized bikes have been a part of the proceedings for Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe. Tour contender Primož Roglič made quick remarks which the group appeared to understand understanding he was the 2023 Giro d’Italia champion.
The colors of nationwide champions have been a part of the parade, together with Spain’s Alex Aranburu Movistar), Belgium’s Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Dstny), France’s Paul Lapeira (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), South Africa’s Ryan Gibbons (Lidl-Trek), Kevin Geniets (Groupama-FDJ) of Luxembourg, Netherlands’ Dylan Groenewege (Jayco-AlUla) and three riders from EF Education-EasyPost – Italy’s Alberto Bettiol, Portugal’s Rui Costa and USA’s Sean Quinn.
Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) was recognised because the four-time winner of the younger rider classification, noting he had captured the white jersey 72 consecutive instances over a number of years. He obtained a framed white jersey with “72” emblazoned on the chest and an artist’s rendering of him taking a bow on the end line, and known as it “a nice shock”.
Alpecin-Deceuninck riders Mathieu van der Poel and Jasper Philipsen have been additionally given quick stints on the microphone, Philipsen recognised as final yr’s factors winner and Van der Poel because the reigning World Champion.
“I understand how onerous racing is right here in Italy, however I’ll attempt,” stated Van der Poel, who has just one stage win on the Tour from 2021 and rides this yr sporting the rainbow stripes for the primary time.
Tour de France débutant Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) was recognised because the reigning time trial world champion and addressed the group about whether or not he would search for a stage win throughout the opening days in Italy.
“We are prepared for the Tour with this sturdy squad. We will go all-in for positive over the three weeks to get the most effective end result as potential. It doesn’t matter [where we win], a stage within the Tour is a stage within the Tour, if it’s the primary one or the final one, I don’t assume it issues which one we want to win so we’ll attempt our greatest.”
Throughout the formalities of rider introductions through the crew presentation, music and dance artists appeared on stage, together with singer and songwriter Paola Vallesi, a local of Florence, performing his hit “La Forza de la Vita”.
Once the boys departed the highlight, organisers acknowledged the Tour de France Femmes Avec Zwift with a fast-moving video presentation that featured clips of the highest feminine professionals. The ladies’s Tour de France will happen August 12-18, with 946km from a Grand Depart in Rotterdam to the general end atop Alpe d’Huez.
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