Just before the Tour de France, as usual, some Tricolor jerseys will be up for grabs. The men's (and not only) will be contested in Friuli Venezia Giulia, first with the time trial on June 26th (which will involve all categories) from Morsano to San Vito al Tagliamento for 28 km and then with the road race on Sunday, June 29th, 224 km from Trieste to Gorizia. Orchestrating it all is a team with plenty of experience, even if not necessarily in organizing professional events.

Nevio Alzetta, coordinator of the organizing committee (who emphasizes this is "mainly due to age reasons"), has taken us on a discovery of the Tricolor event that will touch on many regional excellences.

Nevio, when and how did the Tricolori in Friuli Venezia Giulia come about?

"The opportunity arose at the end of 2024, when the Regional Committee President Stefano Bandolin pointed out that if we could work together and create a good project, the Italian Championships could be assigned to Friuli Venezia Giulia. So we got to work. I use the plural because two societies are involved in this event: the ASD Cellina Bike from Montereale Valcellina, in the Pordenone foothills, and the historic Libertas Ceresetto from Martignacco in the province of Udine, which besides having a cycling school is famous for organizing the Friuli Venezia Giulia Tour for U23/Elite. In the organizing committee, there are Andrea Cecchini for Libertas Ceresetto and former professional Christian Murro, who is the technical director and part of the road commission, Mauro Francescon and myself for Cellina Bike. We are also working with the Professional Cycling League and Congressman Roberto Pella for everything concerning professional events, including the June 26th time trials and the June 29th race. I want to emphasize that the time trials will also involve girls and boys in the Allievi category, and then Juniors and U23, while the Allievi and Esordienti Tricolori will be in Gorizia on the weekend of July 5/6".

In the end, the event manages to involve practically the entire Region.

"Yes, because the time trials will be in San Vito al Tagliamento and then the road race will start from Trieste and touch cities like Monfalcone, Cervignano, Palmanova, Cividale, Buttrio, to name a few, and then the Collio area with the finish in Gorizia. We must thank the Regional Administration and the Municipalities hosting the start and finish of the various events, because they are really giving us a huge hand in setting everything up perfectly".

Can we talk about a sort of organizational debut for you at this level?

"Yes, it's true, this is the first time we've launched into organizing an event of this scale, but we realized that the problems and situations are ultimately the same as other events, including the Paracycling World Cup in Maniago that we did a month ago. But there's always something to learn, that's for sure, and we'll certainly learn from these Tricolor weeks".

At the Giro d'Italia, on these same roads, we saw great enthusiasm from the public.

"The Giro created a lot of interest around cycling and we're taking advantage of that, especially because in Gorizia we have roads that are like a billiard table. But Friuli Venezia Giulia has had a cycling system that has been working for a long time, with many great youth realities up to professional events with Enzo Cainero. I don't think it's a coincidence that athletes like Jonathan Milan and Alessandro De Marchi have emerged, or that we'll have 8 Friulian athletes at the Italians".

Speaking of Milan, he'll start among the favorites to win the Tricolor jersey...

"I won't express an opinion, but certainly the Friulian public would be pleased to see Milan, De Marchi, or Cimolai win. Jonathan will arrive in form, he just won the other day at the Dauphiné and is in full preparation for the Tour. Seeing him in the Tricolor jersey would certainly be a pride for the Friulians and for us who organized the event. But the hope is that a beautiful race comes out and the best man wins".

Sprinters or attackers, who does this route suit?

"Technically, to design it, we must refer to the Federation's technicians, we received input from CT Marco Villa and his collaborators. Reproducing something similar to the upcoming World Championship in Rwanda was impossible, because they told us it was too hard, grueling. So we set up a route that could attract all kinds of riders. I believe the San Floriano del Collio circuit, after 220 km, will be quite selective. A rider like Milan can resist, but I think even someone like Ganna can find the right terrain to do well, and maybe, if he's there, even a Ciccone, so he can redeem his fall in Gorizia at the Giro".

Tell me more about this beautiful road race route.

"We'll start from the splendid setting of Piazza Unità d'Italia in Trieste. We're waiting for confirmation, but that day the Palinuro bergantina, the Navy's training ship, second only to the Amerigo Vespucci in size, might also be docked, which would make the context even more prestigious. From a technical point of view, the decisive point will be the circuit with the climb to be repeated 3 times in San Floriano al Collio, 3.7 km long, irregular but with some interesting steep sections, which we've already seen tackled in the past at the Giro d'Italia. We'll finish in Piazza della Vittoria in Gorizia after more than 220 km. But there's another important thing to say..."

Please.

"The logo for this edition of the Tricolori is the sign we can find in Piazza della Transalpina, between Gorizia and Nova Gorica, once an impassable border between Italy and Slovenia and today an entirely open place for everyone".

In fact, it's not often that an Italian Championship crosses into a foreign country.

"Exactly, it's a symbolic choice to have the Tricolori pass through Slovenia. 50 years ago, people here were against each other, today Gorizia and Nova Gorica are together European Capitals of Culture and are selling out every day in terms of tourism. It's something extraordinary for us and we believe it's a great signal of openness, sharing, of Mitteleuropa. And I don't think that's little given the news we're receiving from the world these days".