In the summer of 1950, the American writer Truman Capote rented a place at the feet of Etna, near Taormina. A photograph portrays him crouching on the steps of a house with chalk white walls. He wears a pair of leather sandals, an unbuttoned shirt and baggy trousers: three sizes larger than his. Truman Capote is 26 years old, yet he looks like a kid, the same way he will look at 60 years of age: the face of a child that is amazed by the world, don’t you dare wake him up. The vegetation and the house overlooking the sea, isolated, without running water nor electricity, will soon become a creative trigger. In a semi-conscious state, here below the Mountain, Capote completes one of his best, yet less known, novels: The Grass Harp.
It is said that the air of the volcano is good for writers but also for all creative minds. For those who are always looking for a way-out from calculations and common sense. A way to feel free, whatever the price to pay. Out of curiosity, ask Alberto Contador which mountain (and ascent) he loves the best. Giulio Ciccone, “Captain Future” of Trek-Segafredo, must feel the same way. Because, at 3 kilometers from the finish of the fifth stage from Enna to Etna, the rider from Abruzzo flies away. After hours spent gasping for breath in the sultry inland, after the first hairpins out of Linguaglossa, between water bottles gulped down in one go and ice creams melting in the children’s hands, the very first breakaway of 2020 Giro goes on stage. It doesn’t matter much if it’s only a plot carefully planned by Luca Guercilena’s team to spare Nibali from useless headaches since he has worn the pink jersey, again, in Agrigento. It’s of little interest if Dumoulin, Lopez, Majka, Yates, Froome are following close behind with little effort. Giulio’s action is overwhelming. Clear, sincere, the perfect sequel to last year’s one on the Mortirolo. Today the wind blows harder than on the ascent to Ventoux. And the Etna is the Giro’s Mont Ventoux. Same altitude of the Giant of Provence – 1,900 meters. Same climate: very hot or very cold, depending on what it feels like. With Aeolus capable of blowing at 100 km per hour or keeping very quiet instead. Like hitting the jackpot.
The yellow-red cap of a young fan flies away, it’s a vintage one that looks as those used in the TV series Stranger Things: it bears the sign Ceramiche Ariostea. It almost gets tangled in Giulio’s front wheel. But he’s in a deep trance and he doesn’t even realise: like Truman Capote, he follows his stream. And the good thing is that no one of his colleagues has realized that either. Would he be with us today, the American writer, author of In Cold Blood and Breakfast at Tiffany’s, would close his eyes and grin. He is aware of the effect of Mongibello. He knows what it is capable of.
Giulio can be helpful to Vincenzo but he also wants to be helpful to himself, it’s soon understood. There is something magic about his continuous pedaling out of the saddle in front of the lava, like pepper when added to a tasteless soup. Everything happens in the last 3 kilometers of the ascent, when the gradient is above 10% and reaches 11% (in the last part the average gradient is 9%). Formolo, after his exploit two days ago, wobbles, maybe he feels the pressure of a competition that is all Italian, and “loses the wheels” of the best riders. Carapaz, coming from behind, passes him. The mouth of the volcano is getting threateningly close: the myth says that, in the fiftieth century BC, the philosopher Empedocles fell into it, victim of his excessive curiosity.
How not wanting to breakaway in such a place? Giulio listens to the inspiration. “Big” Nibali, who is pulling the group of the race leaders, struggles to keep his pace, and wishes his wingman was slower and more cautious. Froome is lagging behind, also today it’s not a good one for him. Dumoulin is risk-adverse and is glued to Vincenzo’s wheel. Lopez is right behind, together with Majka and Yates. Giulio paces down, through his ear pods he has been told not to go full throttle. He wishes he could send them to hell, it’s clear, but this year he has wise resolutions: less impulse, more strategy. He pulls one teeth up and awaits the Shark. The two climb together, make the pace in regular turns, talk to each other. Then, finally, when the top guys are under control, Vincenzo lets his squire go. Giulio takes a couple of meters of advantage, turns back and realises that it’s done. Two steps away from the hell’s gate, protected by the forest, he grabs the first mountain finish of this Giro. Froome is the only one among the big ones (without considering Evenepoel, who today is way behind) to pay his dues: 10 seconds. Added to the ones collected two days ago, it makes over one minute. A lot, probably too much. The Brit shakes his head, avoids the cameras and nervously heads towards the rollers. Punishment in the punishment. He puts the headphones on and starts whirling his legs like hell. His specialty. Then comes Sagan, all battered, almost beyond the maximum time limit. He grumbles: he thought that two years ago on the Tourmalet he had already given out everything he could in terms of pain.
Bucolic post-scriptum: this side of the Etna, never reached by the Giro before, is an absolute wonder. First olive groves and vineyards, then broom trees, birch trees and lava, finally pine trees and forest. A thousand landscapes along a single ascent. Mareneve, this is the name of the road that starting from Linguaglossa climbs up to the crossroads for Piano Provenzana. A strip of tarmac challenging the impossible. The road needs regular maintenance due the endless “minor“ eruptions. Those coming from the embrasures of the Mountain, the most dangerous ones. On the other side, the southern one, one can find the observatory of Piano Vetore. People say that up there, due to the almost complete absence of light pollution, the stars can get you high. We can believe that. Ciccone’s star is already shining quite brightly.
This jersey will be signed by the stage winner and auctioned for charity at the end of the Senzagiro. Design curated by Fergus Niland, Creative Director of Santini Cycling Wear, based on a design by the illustrator Tiziana Longo.
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