Starts tomorrow 11 September from Noto the third edition of the “Giro della Sicilia” the cycling event promoted in Sicily by the sports association GS Mediterraneo. For the first time, after having taken place so far in Western Sicily, the event touches Eastern Sicily and specifically the Val di Noto offering the opportunity to combine sport with tourism and the promotion of the territory. Five stages, Marzamemi, Palazzo Acreide, Avola Antica, Modica and then give space to the final time trial with return to Noto, for over 500 km to pedal to discover “a sea of mountains”, as the claimsays, through a path that alternates timed sections with purely cycling sections useful for discovering the monumental and environmental beauties of this extraordinary area of the island. Alongside the photo stops, where cyclists can take photos and videos of the most evocative places, there are also refreshment points that will be dedicated, in collaboration with the Municipalities, to the discovery of local food and wine and typical products. About a hundred participants who, also coming from other Italian regions, will have the opportunity to know the routes and tourist itineraries.
It starts tomorrow, September 11 with the prologue to the velodrome of Noto, a stone’s throw from the famous Porta Reale. In the baroque city there is great expectation for the event.
“We are very happy that the Giro della Sicilia explores the Val di Noto and has in our city a sort of headquarters – explains the mayor of Noto, Corrado Bonfanti – It will be a ride to discover our territory, which finally starts after a series of postponements due to Covid. A unique opportunity to attract interest and expand our tourist offer, in a shared reasoning in which parochialism is broken down but we reason from a united territory. After all, this is also a unique territory, architectural beauties, history and nature. It’s a great spa.”
Between stages and passages of the caravan, it will be a real event, an opportunity to promote. In Avola we will stop in the historic square: “Our city has a great cycling tradition – says the mayor Luca Cannata – We have had and we have champions and there is the great passion for cycling by many of our citizens. Having this event also in Avola, with a link between sport and tourism, is certainly important and we are satisfied. We will welcome cyclists by making our monuments known”.
A refreshment point will be in the heart of Buscemi where the community is ready to welcome the participants: “We have many beauties that are part of the typical Sicilian Baroque art – comments Rossella La Pira, mayor of Buscemi – To our churches and historic buildings we also add the beautiful landscapes of the Anapo Valley, with routes to do alone but also in groups, to discover a territory with breathtaking scenery. In addition, cyclists will also be able to admire the museum of peasant work, a concentrate of the peasant reality typical of the Iblei”. Among the stops, there will be a moment dedicated to Ispica, its liberty and its typical products starting from the IGP carrot. “Together with the Pro Loco we are organizing the reception for the participants of the tour with also the accommodation in the square of small houses where it will be possible to find the typical products, our carrots, our sesame, oil, wine, cheeses of local companies – explains Lucia Franzò,deputy mayor and councilor for Sport of Ispica – We will make better known the architectural and monumental beauties of our city, inviting everyone to return also to know the nearby archaeological site of Cava d’Ispica. It is a beautiful promotional showcase and Ispica immediately took this opportunity to increase the enhancement from the tourist point of view of our city”.
And it will be a small party also in Canicattini Bagni where the Tour of Sicily will pass and where there will be the refreshment point, also in this case in collaboration with the municipal administration: “This sporting and tourist event together allows us to promote our territory full of colors and enchanting places, from Cavagrande del Cassibile to the nearby Pantalica,in addition to the urban context of our town –comments the councilor for Sport, Salvatore La Rosa who together with the councilor for Tourism, Sebastiana Gazzara, is following the organization of the receptionin Canicattini Bagni – The participants will pass in the middle of the river but will also have the opportunity to know the most evocative itineraries of an environmental nature that they can return to travel in the future “. The “Giro della Sicilia” sees as testimonial the former Sicilian champion Giampaolo Caruso who together with the organizers has taken care of the various stages and the route combining sport, baroque but also a lot of fun, of course to be lived safely following the anti-covidrules.