The Giro di Padania was a multi-stage cycling race which forms part of the

UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to expand cycling around the world. The five circuits (representing the continents of Africa, the ...

. It was held at the beginning of September in Northern Italy, in the region known as the Po Valley or

Padania Padania (, also , ) is an alternative name and proposed independent state encompassing Northern Italy, derived from the name of the Po River (Latin ''Padus''), whose basin includes much of the region, centered on the Po Valley (), the major plai ...

. The first edition, won by

Ivan Basso Ivan Basso (born 26 November 1977) is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 1999 and 2015 for seven different teams. Basso, nicknamed Ivan the Terrible, was considered among the best mountain riders in ...

,"2011 Giro di Padania – Results"
''Cycling News'', 10-09-2011. was held from 6 September until 10 September 2011. About 200 riders participated to the first ''Giro di Padania'', with the national teams of Australia,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

and

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

. This edition was heavily disrupted by activists protesting against the Lega Nord and the Berlusconi government austerity plans. Activists also claimed that the race was intended as political Propaganda for the Lega Nord political party. In the 2011 edition the leader's jersey was green (which is also the colour of Lega Nord), but the colour was changed to blue in 2012. The race was cancelled in 2013 and has not been held since.

Winners

References

External links

Official Website
UCI Europe Tour races Cycle races in Italy Recurring sporting events established in 2011 2011 establishments in Italy Recurring sporting events disestablished in 2012 2012 disestablishments in Italy Defunct cycling races in Italy {{Italy-cycling-race-stub