The scent of the Giro d'Italia and great cycling filled the air at the meeting held at the Amore e Vita – Fanini Museum in Lunata between the owner of Amore e Vita, Ivano Fanini, and his former athlete Lido Del Carlo, president of the Organizing Committee for the Porcari stage of the 2026 Giro d'Italia.

On this occasion, Del Carlo presented as a gift to Fanini the official Paper District jersey of the Porcari Stage City, created to celebrate the start of the 2026 Giro d'Italia stage.

The meeting also represented an important opportunity to discuss the work carried out for organizing the stage. Fanini and Del Carlo reviewed what had been accomplished to make the start from Porcari historic and unforgettable, frankly analyzing both the positive aspects and what could have worked better.

A calm and constructive clarification on several fundamental points, with the goal of being even better prepared should such an experience be repeated in the future. A possibility linked to the chance that RCS Sport and Sofidel might reach a new agreement, as all cycling enthusiasts in the Lucca region hope, particularly those from Porcari and Capannori.

"Thanks to Sofidel, we had the opportunity to host the start of a Giro d'Italia stage in Porcari. It was a historic moment for our territory and an extraordinary success," declared Ivano Fanini. "We hope that such an important experience can be repeated in the future. Much will depend on the will of the Lazzareschi and Stefani families, but I am convinced that Sofidel, through the Regina brand, has achieved great satisfaction and significant image returns. For this reason, we hope they will evaluate new cycling initiatives positively. We must also not forget the great success achieved at the Giro-E, thanks especially to the choice of entrusting the role of leader of the Team Rotoloni Regina to Claudio "El Diablo" Chiappucci, my friend and opponent in many sporting battles when he raced against athletes from my teams. Claudio was undoubtedly one of the most beloved, applauded and acclaimed protagonists by the public, further increasing the visibility and prestige of the entire initiative."

Fanini then emphasized the promotional value of the event: "This start was unforgettable in many ways and represented an extraordinary international television success for our entire territory. Certainly some aspects could have been managed differently or improved, but we must look ahead with confidence, hoping that should such an experience present itself again, we could organize something even more beautiful and engaging".

The Amore e Vita owner then recalled the special relationship that binds him to Del Carlo: "With Lido, who as a young man was also one of my riders – and I would add, a winning one! – we discussed and clarified various aspects, with complete serenity and with the shared desire to do even better in the future. Ours was a sincere and constructive meeting, founded on mutual respect and the great passion we both have for cycling".

For Fanini, the 2026 Giro d'Italia also took on a particularly special significance: "For the first time in history, the Giro was won by a Danish rider, from a nation that I helped introduce and promote in major international cycling since the 1970s. Jonas Vingegaard, moreover, is no ordinary Dane: he is an athlete discovered and launched thanks to the work of my former rider Brian Petersen, his sporting director from the beginning and until his move to Visma, to whom over the years I have tried to offer advice and support".

Particularly moving was also the television passage of the race in front of Sofidel's headquarters: "I was very pleased to hear RAI commentator Francesco Pancani remember, during the live broadcast, the history of my team and our successes, along with those of my brother Brunello and my unforgettable niece and champion Michela, right after the official start in front of Sofidel's headquarters, given by CEO Luigi Lazzareschi. The symbolic start in Porcari's main square had instead been entrusted to Mayor Leonardo Fornaciari and another great discovery of mine, Michele Bartoli, winner of two World Cups, monument classics and the pink jersey at the Giro. And I was also very pleased to unexpectedly see Mario Cipollini at the start village, whom I discovered and launched and who holds the Giro d'Italia record for stage wins (42 in total. Mario honored the Giro with his presence just two days after delicate heart surgery but thank God he was in splendid form)".

Fanini finally thanked Del Carlo and the entire organizing committee: "I sincerely thank Lido for this special gift. The jersey has deep and significant value for me, because it is linked to the history that Amore e Vita has written in cycling and, in particular, to the Giro d'Italia. It is also recognition for what the Fanini world has tried to achieve over the last sixty years in favor of the growth, internationalization and globalization of world cycling".

The official Paper District jersey will now become part of the prestigious collection housed within the Amore e Vita – Fanini Museum in Capannori, alongside the numerous artifacts that tell over half a century of Italian and international cycling history. It will be placed by Museum Director Stefano Bendinelli in the section dedicated to Giro d'Italia memories, where the pink bicycle dedicated to the race is also displayed, the "mummy" identical to the one made famous by the Rotoloni Regina television commercials – part of the suggestive display created in Porcari's town square for the start gathering – the bicycles with which Magnusson won three stages at the Giro and that of Quirico Bernacchi from 1937 who wore the leader's jersey in the pink race and who, with Bartali and Bini, was one of the first Tuscans in history to wear "pink".