To break away from Piedmontese caution, Piedmont wants to go big. Indeed, the presentation of the professional Tricolore championship, an imminent event that shines with its own light, brings with it not one announcement but two: in the subalpine region the goal is to organize the European championship before 2030, and then the world championship, likely from 2035 onwards, in any case at the first available calendar slot.
On the 41st floor of the Regional Building, it is President Alberto Cirio who clarifies: "We are Savoyards, accustomed to proceeding gradually. Yet the 'reputation' of our regional territory in terms of sporting events has grown, in many disciplines and specifically in cycling, just think of the fact that we have hosted the Grand Departure of the Giro d'Italia, the Grand Départ of the Tour de France, and the Salida Oficial of the Vuelta. These are not sporadic investments".
Between a video call with Francesco Moser (needless to say, on a bike even on his 75th birthday) and the presence at the speakers' table of Claudio Chiappucci (his connection to Piedmont inseparable from his feat at Sestriere in the 1992 Tour de France), the continental and world horizons take center stage. It falls to the regional sports assessor, Paolo Bongioanni, to reiterate how the 2026 Elite Italian championships "represent a further strategic milestone for enhancing the territory, from landscape variety to historical riches and gastronomic excellence". The President of the Professional Cycling League, Roberto Pella, begins by highlighting how the Italian Championships, the awarding of the 125th tricolor jersey, enjoy a special significance, "in the year celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Republic".
Then Piedmontese Pella, specifically tasked by Cirio to follow the candidacy dossier for the Europeans and Worlds, insists on adding that these challenges "must be accompanied by the best possible degree of inter-institutional cohesion". A road map destined to intensify in the coming months, while attention turns to the finishing avenue in Cuneo, or rather, going in order, to the 40 km time trial from the Sanctuary of Vicoforte to Barbaresco, perhaps celebrating a Piedmontese winner. Right, Ganna?