Fossano, 6 May 2024 – Third Piedmont stage of the Giro-E Enel 2024, and neither one, in the sense of the region, ceases to amaze. We are in the Langa and the musical background is any one of the masterpieces by Paolo Conte, and not necessarily the famous Bartali.
Beautiful Cherasco, the starting city of the Giro-E and crossed by the professional cyclists at the end of their very long stage of 166 kilometres. Here, for example, you can visit the museum of magic, the most important Italian museum dedicated to magic and illusion. The history, instruments and protagonists of this fascinating form of entertainment, founded by Don Silvio Mantelli, stage name Mago Sales, a Salesian priest and conjurer. Also worth seeing is the Adriani Civic Museum which boasts a valuable numismatic collection, the Church of the Madonna del Popolo with its terracotta façade and Palazzo Salmatoris, the town’s most historically prestigious building, where the Turin Shroud was placed and where Napoleon Bonaparte imposed the armistice of 1796 on the Piedmontese people. Pleasures also come from the table, with the Bacio di Cherasco, the chocolate protagonist of the centuries-old confectionery art of Cherasco, which can be found in the chocolatiers of the historic centre. Being a Barolo municipality, this wine has been made in the town since 1880 and can still be enjoyed.
The Cherasco-Fossano stage
Already the starting point of two stages of the Giro d’Italia, in 2012 and 2013, Cherasco kicked off a very beautiful stage from a scenic point of view but not very demanding, given its length of 64 kilometres and 750-metre altitude range. No memorable climbs, but lots of countryside and many vineyards. History repeats itself in Fossano, the site of today’s stage finish, which hosted a finish line and two starts of the Giro, the last in 2014 and won on May 23 by Marco Canola, the current captain of Team Virgin Active.