The Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali ( en, International Week of Coppi and Bartali), also known as Coppi e Bartali, is an Italian cycle road race. It is run typically in late March over five days in the

Emilia-Romagna egl, Emigliàn (man) egl, Emiglièna (woman) rgn, Rumagnòl (man) rgn, Rumagnòla (woman) it, Emiliano (man) it, Emiliana (woman) or it, Romagnolo (man) it, Romagnola (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title ...

region of Italy.

History

Between 1999 and 2000 it was called ''Memorial Cecchi Gori'' while it was also previously held as ''Giro di Sardegna'' and ''Giro di Sicilia''. The race is named after Italian cyclists

Gino Bartali Gino Bartali (; 18 July 1914 – 5 May 2000), nicknamed Gino the Pious and (in Italy) Ginettaccio, was a champion road cyclist. He was the most renowned Italian cyclist before the Second World War, having won the Giro d'Italia twice, in 19 ...

and

Fausto Coppi Angelo Fausto Coppi (; 15 September 1919 – 2 January 1960) was an Italian cyclist, the dominant international cyclist of the years after the World War II, Second World War. His successes earned him the title ''Il Campionissimo'' ("Champio ...

. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a

2.1 The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the world's governing body in the sport of bicycle racing, classifies races according to a rating scale. The rating is represented by a code made of two or three parts and indicates both the type or style ...

event on 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 is considered one of the most important

stage races A race stage, leg, or heat is a unit of a race that has been divided in several parts for the reason such as length of the distance to be covered, as in a multi-day event. Usually, such a race consists of "ordinary" stages, but sometimes stages ...

in Italy and is organized by Gruppo Sportivo Emilia. In 2004 the organization of the race retired the number 145, worn by

Marco Pantani Marco Pantani (; 13 January 1970 – 14 February 2004) was an Italian road racing cyclist, widely regarded as the greatest climbing specialist in the history of the sport by measures of his legacy, credits from other riders, and records. He rec ...

in 2003 when he placed tenth and finished second in one stage after

Ruslan Ivanov Ruslan Ivanov (born 18 December 1973 in Chişinău) is a former Moldovan road bicycle racer. Palmares ;1997 :National Road Championships ::1st Time trial ::1st Road race : 2nd, Overall, Baby Giro ;1998 :National Road Championships ::1st ...

, allowing him to stand on the podium for the last time in his life. At the start of the race a flock of white doves was also released to remember him. In 2009 at the 24th edition of the race, Damiano Cunego was the overall victor after two stage wins and a second place on the last day. Damiano Cunego won by 24 seconds over Cadel Evans in 2nd place and by 38 seconds over Massimo Giunti in 3rd place. Both Damiano Cunego and Cadel Evans said this was an important part of their training lead up to both Giro d'Italia 2009 for Cunego and Tour de France 2009 for Cadel Evans.

List of winners

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Settimana Internazionale Di Coppi E Bartali Cycle races in Italy UCI Europe Tour races Recurring sporting events established in 1984 1984 establishments in Italy