Following the death of Pope Francis, CONI and consequently Italian sports federations have canceled numerous sporting events on Easter Monday. In the continuation of the week, however, every competition will be held observing a minute of silence.

This applies to all of Italy, but naturally questions have been pouring in regarding Rome, where tens of thousands of faithful are already present and expected to pay tribute to the pontiff's remains before Saturday's funeral, and where public events were canceled yesterday and today. As cycling enthusiasts and professionals well know, the Lazio Bike Days are scheduled between tomorrow and April 25th: a succession of races in various categories in the historic Caracalla circuit starting tomorrow with the Italian Team Time Trial Championships for Allievi and continuing Thursday and Friday with the Gran Premio della Liberazione. Should we expect some decision in this regard, especially in light of the just-declared national mourning?

This morning we received from the organizer Claudio Terenzi a series of photos that testify to the regular setup in progress, as well as portraying a youth squad practicing the route ahead of the national time trial event: municipal police were there as expected, to close traffic and supervise the work. Without any hitches.

So what does the Lazio Bike Days menu include?

Tomorrow at 10 the first heats of the Allievi TTT championships will start, featuring 25 male quartets and then 12 female ones: you'll find the link to the starting orders at the bottom of the article.

On Thursday youth categories will race as part of the GP Liberazione. At 9:30, the Liberazione Cavaliere Juniores starts: Marchi (Borgo Molino) against Magagnotti (Contri Autozai), Baruzzi (Aspiratori Otelli) against Mengarelli (Fratelli Giorgi) and many other duels that will intersect among the tight curves and challenging short climbs in the heart of the Capital; curiosity also for CPS by Clemente Cavaliere, main sponsor of the Juniores race, for Veleka by patron Terenzi, whose Belarusian athlete Slesarenko has surprised everyone at the start of the season, and for some expected foreign teams. At 12:30 it will be the Liberazione Allievi, with several teams remaining in Rome from the previous day's team time trial, and at 15:30 the Liberazione Esordienti will see young talents compete in a dream scenario. Closing this central day, at 17:00 will be the Liberazione Amatori.

Friday is the highlight. At 9:00 the Coati Liberazione Women (1.1) which will also be the fourth female stage of the Coppa Italia delle Regioni: the top team on paper is UAE Adq, last year's winner with a triple podium that constituted the first breakthrough of a fantastic season for Chiara Consonni, while this edition will focus on Sofia Bertizzolo and Sofie van Rooijen; challenging the title will mainly be another World Tour team like the Swiss Roland of Giorgia Vettorello, and numerous Italian Continental teams that will allow us to see, among others, Linda Laporta (Bepink), Lara Crestanello (Born to Win BTC), Eleonora La Bella (Aromitalia Vaiano) or track rising star Anita Baima, with Horizons club.

At noon, one of the most significant moments regarding the social aspect beyond the sporting one of the Liberation: the "Bike 4 Fun - donation ride" open to everyone and allowing anyone who wants to spend a carefree hour on a bicycle to pedal in the heart of the capital; Bike 4 Fun is organized in collaboration with ANED Sport and AIDO to raise awareness on the topic, always too little discussed and known, of organ donation.

At 2:00 PM, the 78th edition of the "queen race" of the GP Liberazione: what was once for amateurs and, since the international category change, is now Under 23. Almost all Italian Continental teams and several foreign ones are present, VF Bardiani Csf Faizan is there, as are the devo teams from UAE and Bahrain... Turconi (Piva winner and Sanremo breakaway), Bessega, Belletta, Giaimi, Stella, Oioli, Cipollini jr. are just a small part of the names we'll find in the startlist of a race that traditionally projects winners towards professionalism (the post-Covid honor roll reads Gazzoli, Uhlig, Romele, Donati, the latter moving from Biesse Carrera to Red Bull youth) and is considered a U23 Spring World Championship.

Assembling and dismantling the structures around Terme di Caracalla during the three days will be people performing public utility work under the aegis of the ALETES association, consolidating Terenzi Sport Eventi's civic commitment connected to the purely sporting movement.

Last issue: how to follow the races? Allievi TTT Championships, Liberazione Esordienti, Allievi, Juniores and Under 23 will be live-streamed on Toscana Sprint channels, furthermore Jrs. and U23 will simultaneously televised on Bike Channel. Instead, the women's race will be broadcast in delayed mode on Rai Sport.