Aart Heering
Idyllically situated northwest of Turin at the foot of the Mediterranean Alps, Cuneo is a friendly, industrious and clean town of about 50.000 inhabitants.
The pedestrianized main street, which is of course called Via Roma, is lined with antique mansions and historic shops and cafes, you can eat well everywhere and at weekends the center is packed with mainly French tourists, for whom 'Coni' is just over the border .
In addition, gastronomic specialties are produced in Cuneo such as the cunesia, large filled chocolates that are appreciated all over Italy, and Italy's most successful craft beer, Playboy. One of the largest employers is Merlo, world-renowned manufacturer of lift trucks.
But Cuneo is also an important cycling center. The hills, mountains and valleys surrounding the city, with their narrow and often steep winding roads, make a wonderful trail for professional and amateur cyclists.
The city's main cycling event is the annual Granfondo Fausto Coppic, a race held on the last Sunday of June and leading high into the Alps to the Fauniera, a nearly 2.500m summit, which is reached after an ascent of nearly 2.000m in just 22 kilometres.
The course bears the name of the legendary champion Fausto Coppic, which is five times the Line of Business won the Tour de France twice in the same year – 1949 and 1952.
This year marks the 1960th birthday of Coppi, who died in XNUMX, barely XNUMX years old. That is why the history of the champion rekindled: his victories, his friendship and rivalry with peers Gino Bartali, his extramarital love affair with the mysterious 'dama bianca', which grew into a national scandal in the bigotted Italy at the time.
In Cuneo, in the Complesso Monumentale San Francesco, there is now an exhibition dedicated to him under the title Fausto Coppi 9h19'55'', the time in which he won the stage from Cuneo to Pinerolo 70 years ago in the Giro, the same one that the Giro did again this year on May 23 in honor of Coppi.
This time, the Netherlands was the host country in the Granfondo. Of the 2.800 participants from 37 countries – from New Zealand to the Ivory Coast and Monaco – who took to the center of Piazza Galimberti early in the morning on 30 June, the 112 Dutch cyclists made up the third largest group, after Italy and France.
A great opportunity to represent the homeland and to cycle a bit yourself. Last year I had already done that as a guest in the 110 kilometer course, but that had turned out to be a bit much for a not particularly trained and not so young man.
On my way to the Fauniera I gave up at the intermediate station at 1.900 meters altitude. Quite a nice climb when you consider that Cuneo itself is located at 400 meters, but that's about it. It became clear to me that I had nevertheless become part of the myth when I was cycling in my Coppi shirt in the hills above the Côte d'Azur last month and was addressed during a rest by a hard-looking local cyclist: 'Avez -vous fait le Foostoo Coppì? Monsieur, knife compliments!'
Well, it must be vanity, but I didn't have the heart to tell him I had turned over prematurely.
This year I opted for the more relaxed variant Mangia & Pedal (Eat and Bike), a 50 kilometer tour through the Valle Grana, the valley of the river of the same name. (You can find the route here.)
Paddling along 's Heren roads through rolling hills with a few not too difficult slopes along green fields, forests of sweet chestnuts and rustic villages you realize how beautiful the region is. Piedmont could be. Also because the trip was interrupted by three memorable stops, provided by farmers' organization Coldiretti.
In Bernezzo we were welcomed as a late breakfast (we had left shortly after ten o'clock) with the specialties of organic farmer Ceaglio: bread with cheese, sausage, pickled vegetables and cream of cream and saffron, which, to my surprise, turns out to be cultivated in this part of the country as well.
In Valgrana we were joined by the Cappella dei Santi Bernardo e Mauro met by volunteers from the FAI, a private institution dedicated to preserving cultural heritage. The chapel is a gem, with beautifully preserved frescoes from the 15e century and, as a striking detail, an image of St. Ambrose, in which the Church Father reads an edifying text with the aid of glasses, an instrument that had only recently been invented.
Halfway through we arrived in the village of Pradleves at the consortium of producers of Castelmagno. This cheese, renowned in Italy, can only be produced in this higher part of the Valle Grana and is eaten young and soft as well as matured, spicy and crumbly.
The lunch based on polenta, melted Castelmagno and chilled red wine (Dolcetto) went inside after the physical exertion despite the 30 degrees in the shade and also offered ample opportunity to fraternize with the other 30 participants.
These were mainly elderly members of the local cycling club, in addition to a few people from Turin and three foreigners: a French woman, yours truly, and a New Zealander who has been spending the summer holidays with her husband for three years in Cuneo and the surrounding area, which they consider to be the most beautiful part of Europe.
On the way back it turned out that we had already climbed quite a bit and that was a good thing, because with a stomach full of polenta, cheese and wine it went downhill a lot easier. All in all a wonderful trip, which I can recommend to everyone. I'm going again next year!
Comments