Giro d'Italia to make Vatican homage to Pope Francis
It could be the biggest sporting event inside the walls of the Vatican.
The Giro d'Italia will pay homage to the late Pope Francis by passing through the Vatican gardens behind St Peter's Basilica and in front of the Santa Marta hotel — where Francis lived — during the final stage of the cycling race on June 1.
More than 150 cyclists will pedal for three kilometres through an area of the Vatican rarely seen by the general public and live TV images will broadcast the scenes around the world.
"The original idea was to have Francis signal the start of the last stage to promote the Vatican and the Eternal City in the 2025 Holy Year," Giro director Mauro Vegni told The Associated Press following Tuesday's presentation of the 21st stage.
Francis, however, died last week at 88.
"We wanted to go right up to Casa Santa Marta because we knew the pope was aging, so we thought he could come down and offer a blessing to start the final stage. Then unfortunately things turned out differently. But it will remain an homage to Francis," Vegni added.
The cyclists will enter the Vatican through the Petriano gate to the left of St Peter's, ride around the basilica and then climb up toward the gardens before exiting near Santa Marta at the Perugino gate.
The passage through the Vatican will be during the neutralised period before the stage begins in earnest.
In 1974, the Giro started in the Vatican and in the 2000 Holy Year, the opening prologue finished in St Peter's Square. The race has also passed by St Peter's multiple times, including the last two years.
But never before has the race gone so far into Vatican City — which led to lengthy negotiations between race organisers and the Holy See.
Team cars covered with sponsors' labels will not be allowed inside the Vatican. Instead one pool car of mechanics will ride with the riders in case of mechanicals.
The usual array of photographers riding on motorcycles who document the race will be reduced and TV images will be produced by the Vatican's own media team and race organisers. Discussions are ongoing over whether aerial TV coverage provided by helicopters or drones will be permitted.
"It's been a difficult negotiation," Bishop Paul Tighe, the No.2 in the Vatican's culture and education ministry, said, "But it was the enthusiasm of the pope for the project that opened doors. Otherwise, it would have been very easy to say, 'It's impossible. It can't be done.'
After leaving the Vatican, the final Giro stage follows a 143-km route concluding with a circuit of eight laps through downtown Rome and the finish next to the Colosseum.
The Giro starts on on May 9, two days after the conclave to elect Francis' successor is slated to start. The opening three stages will be held in Albania for the first time.
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As the riders cycled past Rome's landmarks like the Colosseum, a six-man breakaway went 24 seconds ahead of the pink jersey group with less than 50 km to go. But by the time they had one lap left, four riders were dropped, with only Josef Cerny and Enzo Paleni left in the lead. Cerny then dropped Paleni to attempt a solo ride to the finish but he was quickly reeled in with six kilometres left. Visma-Lease a Bike wanted the perfect finish and they executed it to perfection when Wout Van Aert led the sprint out on the final kilometre before Kooij surged ahead to take the victory, his second after winning stage 12, just pipping Groves and Matteo Moschetti. Simon Yates has claimed victory at the 2025 Giro d'Italia, securing his second Grand Tour triumph having effectively sealed the title a day earlier when he snatched the pink jersey from Isaac Del Toro. Yates and other riders received blessings from Pope Leo at the Vatican on Sunday before the Briton cruised to the finish in Rome on the final stage, which was won by teammate Olav Kooij in a sprint finish ahead of battling Australian rider Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck). Groves' compatriot Michael Storer was the highest ranked Australian rider overall, finishing 10th in the general classification. Fellow Australian Chris Harper, who won Saturday's brutal penultimate stage from Verres to Sestriere, finished 23rd overall. Yates, riding in all pink on a pink bike, also became the first rider since Alberto Contador in 2015 to win the Giro without claiming victory on any of the stages. The Briton wore pink for 13 days during the 2018 Giro before cracking on one of the final climbs. He also had to withdraw from the Italian race in 2020 and 2022 — because of coronavirus and a knee injury, respectively. "I'm still in shock of what I've done," Yates said. "It's something that I've been working toward for a long time." Yates, who rides for Team Visma Lease a Bike, finished 3 minutes, 56 seconds ahead of Del Toro and 4:43 ahead of Richard Carapaz, the 2019 champion from Ecuador. After riding 3,300 km through Italy, Albania and Slovenia, the final stage was a 143km ride starting and finishing in Rome, including eight laps of a 9.5 km long circuit in the Eternal City. As the riders cycled past Rome's landmarks like the Colosseum, a six-man breakaway went 24 seconds ahead of the pink jersey group with less than 50 km to go. But by the time they had one lap left, four riders were dropped, with only Josef Cerny and Enzo Paleni left in the lead. Cerny then dropped Paleni to attempt a solo ride to the finish but he was quickly reeled in with six kilometres left. Visma-Lease a Bike wanted the perfect finish and they executed it to perfection when Wout Van Aert led the sprint out on the final kilometre before Kooij surged ahead to take the victory, his second after winning stage 12, just pipping Groves and Matteo Moschetti. Simon Yates has claimed victory at the 2025 Giro d'Italia, securing his second Grand Tour triumph having effectively sealed the title a day earlier when he snatched the pink jersey from Isaac Del Toro. Yates and other riders received blessings from Pope Leo at the Vatican on Sunday before the Briton cruised to the finish in Rome on the final stage, which was won by teammate Olav Kooij in a sprint finish ahead of battling Australian rider Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck). Groves' compatriot Michael Storer was the highest ranked Australian rider overall, finishing 10th in the general classification. Fellow Australian Chris Harper, who won Saturday's brutal penultimate stage from Verres to Sestriere, finished 23rd overall. Yates, riding in all pink on a pink bike, also became the first rider since Alberto Contador in 2015 to win the Giro without claiming victory on any of the stages. The Briton wore pink for 13 days during the 2018 Giro before cracking on one of the final climbs. He also had to withdraw from the Italian race in 2020 and 2022 — because of coronavirus and a knee injury, respectively. "I'm still in shock of what I've done," Yates said. "It's something that I've been working toward for a long time." Yates, who rides for Team Visma Lease a Bike, finished 3 minutes, 56 seconds ahead of Del Toro and 4:43 ahead of Richard Carapaz, the 2019 champion from Ecuador. After riding 3,300 km through Italy, Albania and Slovenia, the final stage was a 143km ride starting and finishing in Rome, including eight laps of a 9.5 km long circuit in the Eternal City. As the riders cycled past Rome's landmarks like the Colosseum, a six-man breakaway went 24 seconds ahead of the pink jersey group with less than 50 km to go. But by the time they had one lap left, four riders were dropped, with only Josef Cerny and Enzo Paleni left in the lead. Cerny then dropped Paleni to attempt a solo ride to the finish but he was quickly reeled in with six kilometres left. Visma-Lease a Bike wanted the perfect finish and they executed it to perfection when Wout Van Aert led the sprint out on the final kilometre before Kooij surged ahead to take the victory, his second after winning stage 12, just pipping Groves and Matteo Moschetti.
