Paralympic athlete Diego Gastaldi, testimonial and narrator of the “Giro Express”, retraced the 21 stages of the Giro d’Italia, the famous professional road cycling stage race, with the aim of conveying the great international public knowledge of the territories combined with the districts: the excellences that make Italy unique in its incredible diversity. The communication campaign was promoted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, financed by ICE (The Italian Trade Agency) and created by the RCS Sport & Events group, organizer of the Giro d’Italia.
The Giro d’Italia is an example of “best practice” of sports tourism for the benefit of communities and territories, as also demonstrated by the decision of the Hon. Minister to confer on the Giro d’Italia the title of “Ambassador of sports diplomacy”.
In the cycling sector itself, Italy is in first place in the EU for the number of non-electric bicycles exported: 1,685,581 are sold abroad, with a share of 14.7% of the EU total.
Furthermore, our country is second in Europe for total bicycles – non-electric and e-bikes – with a share of 12.1% of the EU total, equal to 1,860,095 units sold abroad. The sector’s exports are worth 1,149 million euros, of which 606 million euros in components and 543 million euros in bicycles.
In the bicycle supply chain, which in Italy enlists 3,233 companies, 1,989 are artisans with 3,728 employees, with a growth of 1.4% in one year. The regions with the greatest vocation in the bicycle supply chain are Trentino-Alto Adige, Veneto, Emilia-Romagna and Valle d’Aosta. Between 2019 and 2022 the domestic bicycle production showed growth of 34.7%. In Italy 940 thousand people use bicycles for daily travel, of which 727 thousand to go to work and 213 thousand to go to school.
Giro d’Italia 107th Edition. “Giro Express” 2024
