“I Forzati della strada” Report

A hundred cyclists rode along the historic roads of Montelparo, in the Marche region, as part of the “I Forzati della strada” ("The Convicts of the Road") vintage cycling event on July 28th. Riding in the event were Giorgio Furlan (winner of Milan-Sanremo) and Pietro Guerra (teammate of Felice Gimondi), and Dutch, British, U.S., and Italian riders.

The cyclists gathered within the among the ancient walls of the village of Montelparo for the start,  on the hottst day of the year, before heading out to ride on the many white roads that wind through the hills of Fermo.

The landscape of the area is one that easily competes on equal terms with that of the much celebrated landscape of Tuscany as you can see:

All the participants enjoyed the five rest stops plus a lunch of  of traditional country dish specilialties from Fermo. During lunch some 40 random draw prizes were drawn, one prize being a pair of custom made leather cycling shoes by Carlo Corvaro.

For more information about the event visit www.iforzatidellastrada.it

In addition to the world class riding available in the Fermo area don't forget to consider the Marche region, in general,for cycling.

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Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal about rides, granfondos, touring, having a good time cycling in Italy, Italian cycling history, racing, etc. are always welcome. Contact me at veronaman@gmail.com.

“I Forzati della strada” Returns to Marche Region on July 28th

"I Forzati della strada" (The Convicts of the Road) vintage ride event will be held on July 28th in Montelparo, the beautiful village overlooking the hills of the province of Fermo in the Marche region.

The name "I Forzati della Strada" originates from French journalist Albert Londres. He was a foreign affairs reporter for Le Petit Journal of Paris. In 1923 he went to the French penal colony of Cayenne in Guyana. Describing the horrors, his reports produced reactions in public opinion. Shortly after returning from Cayenne he was invited to follow and report on the 1924 Tour de France. His observation was that suffering of the riders and the convicts of Cayenne were similar. He referred to the Tour de France as the "Tour de Souffrance" (Tour of Suffering) and that the riders as the "Les Forçats de la route" (The convicts of the road; in Italian, I Forzati della strada). For this reason, this year's event is being held during July, the month of the Tour de France.

The event is part of the Giro d’Italia d’Epoca and offers participants the opportunity to choose between two routes of 40 km and 80 km, all in the open countryside and half on dirt roads. The group will be escorted by vintage cars and motorcycles, just to recreate the atmosphere cycling that is usually seen in faded black and white movies. Along the route way there will be a number of dining surprises of food and wine. To cool yourself you can also stop at some of the old water fountains in the ancient villages that dot the route.

To give an oportunity to those that do not have a vintage bicycle, road bikes (no mountain bikes permitted) of any vintage will be allowed but cycling kits prior to 1985 will be required.

The first 100 subscribers will be a given special pacco gara (race packet). All participants will have a lunch of specilialties from Fermo. During lunch the random draw prizes will be drawn, one of which will be a pair of custom made leather cycling shoes by Carlo Corvaro.

Event information:  www.iforzatidellastrada.it
email:  info@iforzatidellastrada.it

Marche is a beautiful region which more cyclists need to discover. 

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Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal about rides, granfondos, touring, having a good time cycling in Italy, Italian cycling history, racing, etc. are always welcome. Contact me at veronaman@gmail.com. There are now more than 2,700 stories in this blog. The search feature to the right works best for finding subjects in the blog. There is also a translate button at the bottom so you can translate each page. 

I Forzati della Strada, Part II

The introduction to this event here.

Part II:
Even the rain stopped to allow the event to take place, Sunday, June 20, over the white roads of Fermo (Marche).

Cyclists departed from Montottone escorted by motorcycles and cars, among them the legendary 600 "multipla", the flagship of the good old days.

There were many prizes for the riders for the best interpretation of cycling history. The first prize went to Giorgio Minora of Milan who rode a 1938 Legnano, the same model with which Gino Bartali triumphed in his first Tour de France; Minora also wore a tricolor jersey of Alfredo Binda from 1929. In second place, equal on points, was the former 1950s professional Angiolino Piscaglia riding his Ganna and wearing a Ghigi jersey. Amerigo Severini, many times Italiana cyclocross champion, rode his faithful Bianchi and one of his knit tricolor jerseys to a prize as well.

There was an extraordinary lunch for participants featuring local specialties such as Vincigrassi prepared in the traditional way as it had been by the peasants.

The inaugural event was very successful and also had the merit of bringing the phenomenon of vintage cycling to central/southern Italy.

Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal about rides, granfondos, having a good time cycling in Italy, Italian cycling history, etc. are very welcome. Contact me at veronaman@gmail.com. There are more than 1,400 stories in this blog. The search feature to the right works best for finding subjects in the blog and there is also a translate button at the bottom so you can translate each page.

I Forzati della Strada

"I Forzati della Strada" is a new vintage bike ride scheduled for June 20, 2010, in the hilltop town of Montottone (Fermo) in the Le Marche region. The ride is dedicated to Fausto Coppi.

The Italian ride announcement referred to the journalist Albert Londres, and its from him that the ride title "I Forzati della Strada" originates.

Albert Londres was a foreign affairs reporter for Le Petit Journal of Paris. In 1923 he went to the French penal colony of Cayenne in Guyana. Describing the horrors, his reports produced reactions in public opinion and the Establishment:

"It must be said that we in France have erred. When someone - sometimes with our knowledge - is sent into forced labour, we say "He has gone to Cayenne". The penal colony is no longer at Cayenne, but at Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni first of all and later at the Îles du Salut. I ask, by the way, that these isles be debaptised, for they are not the Isles of Salvation, but the Isles of Punishment. The law allows us to behead murderers, not to employ them. Cayenne is nevertheless the capital of the penal colony. (...) Finally, I arrived at the camp. The labour camp. Not a machine for producing well defined, regulated, uniform punishment. A factory churning out misery without rhyme or reason. One would search in vain for any mould to shape the prisoners. It crushes them, that's all, and the pieces go where they may."

Shortly after returning from Cayenne he was invited to follow and report on the 1924 Tour de France. His observation was that suffering of the riders and the convicts of Cayenne were similar. He referred to the Tour de France as the "Tour de Souffrance" (Tour of Suffering) and that the riders as the "Les Forçats de la route" (The convicts of the road; in Italian, I Forzati della Strada).

The "I Forzati della Strada" ride will offer two distances: 40 and 80 km. The routes will have many sections of "strada bianca" (white roads) in good condition. Although the event is open to non-vintage bikes there will be a separate classification for pre-1983 bikes and these riders should also use pre-1983 clothing and accessories. Several prizes will be available in this category.

There will be no technical support along the route; there will be a sag wagon to pickup riders that have difficulties.

Register before June 10th. For the 10 Euro registration you will receive a bottle of wine from Terre Picene with a label dedicated to Fausto Coppi; a bottle of extra virgin olive oil, an event t-shirt, and a silk screened print of Fausto Coppi by artisit Querelle.

For more details see: http://www.iforzatidellastrada.it/ (there are also English and French versions).

I have a calendar of other vintage bike rides in Italy for 2010 here.

Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal about rides, granfondos, having a good time cycling in Italy, Italian cycling history, etc. are very welcome. Contact me at veronaman@gmail.com. There are more than 1,300 stories in this blog. The search feature to the right works best for finding subjects in the blog and there is also a translate button at the bottom so you can translate each page.