It's a five-day race. Started on Wednesday, it will conclude tomorrow. No hint of presumption, no delusion of grandeur. Because this is the Florence-Pistoia, the first cycling race held in Italy, back in 1870, thus 155 years of history (and the second in the world after Paris-Rouen, 87 days earlier).

After meetings, conferences and exhibitions in Pistoia and Poggio a Caiano, today at 10, in Florence, at the Visarno Hippodrome (Cascine Park, Viale del Visarno 14) a cycling exhibition will be inaugurated (vintage bikes, books, newspapers, jerseys, games), and at 2 PM an eco-friendly bike ride will depart towards the city center, with a limited number of vintage bikes. During the ride, a stop is planned to visit the Cinquecento Hall and the monumental quarters of Palazzo Vecchio. Upon return, a meeting with journalists and cycling legends is scheduled to remember the greats of cycling. In Pistoia, at 3:30 PM, an eco-friendly bike ride will start from Piazza Duomo through the historic center and arrive at the San Giorgio Library. Simultaneously, in the Library, a conference on "Legendary Figures and Races of Cycling" will be held with Stefano Fiori and Luciano Mereghetti.

Tomorrow at 9, in Florence, from Cascine Square, the start of the Florence-Pistoia, 33 km, preceded by 19 cyclists with historic bikes closest to those used by the 1870 participants; at 10:30 a stop in Poggio a Caiano at the Medici Villa, where the 19 "Historicals" bikes will receive a special stamp to commemorate the event. The 19 cyclists (in 1870 the 30 registered dropped to 24, then at the start were only 19, the cream of the cream of Florentine "sportsmen") will be followed and accompanied by a group of enthusiasts, also with vintage bikes and clothing, and cars built as close as possible to the historical period of the first Florence-Pistoia. Also tomorrow from 10:30, in Pistoia, in Piazza Duomo, a promotional gymkhana for children is scheduled; at 12 the arrival of the Florence-Pistoia reenactment is expected. Then awards. Among the guests, Patrizia Spadaccini, Claudio and Maurizio Vandelli and Giovanni Nencini, son of Gastone. Directed by Michela Piccioni. And let the celebration continue.