"Nonsense": Nijmegen says it isn't hosting 2016 Giro d'Italia start

By Zack Newmark on June 8, 2015 - 16:32
Giro_d'Italia_Amsterdam_–_Gilberto_Simoni
Gilberto Simoni, racing in the first stage of the 2010 Giro d'Italia in Amsterdam. May 8, 2010 (photo: The Wolf / Wikimedia Commons). (Gilberto Simoni, racing in the first stage of the 2010 Giro d'Italia in Amsterdam. May 8, 2010 (photo: The Wolf / Wikimedia Commons))

Nijmegen officials called a report from an Italian website “nonsense” saying that the 2016 Giro d’Italia will kick off from the Gelderland city. The report calling it the official starting point of the 2016 Giro d’Italia cycling race comes from cycling site Tutto Bici, and is sourced to Nijmegen cycling activist Jos Sluijsmans.

The start of the race would take place in Apeldoorn, if the Gelderland plan is approved by Giro officials, an Apeldoord spokesman told De Glederlander. “And stages then follow in Arnhem and Nijmegen,” she added, reminding people that no final decision was made by the organization scheduling the Giro.

“If the Giro comes, it will be a joint celebration of the three Gelderland cities,” she stated.

The race will make its way back to the Netherlands for the third time in less than 15 years, following the 2010 stages in Amsterdam and 2002 stages in Groningen, if the Giro d’Italia goes forward with the Gelderland proposal.

The 2015 Tour de France will start for the sixth time in the Netherlands this July with the Grand Départ from Utrecht.

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