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"Giro d'Italia"/ Rama's propaganda falls! Cycling News: Dangerous, you never know where the pothole will appear on the road

Politiko 2025-05-09 12:29:11

"Giro d'Italia"/ Rama's propaganda falls! Cycling News:

Edi Rama has paid 7 million euros from Albanian taxes to conduct pre-election propaganda with the famous cycling race 'Giro d'Italia'. Three stages of this race will take place in Albania: in Tirana, Durrës and Vlora

Racing cyclists have been left shocked by the state of the roads they have found in Albania. Cycling News, the world's leading cycling news site, writes that "The Giro d'Italia begins on Friday afternoon with the first of three stages to be held in Albania, but cyclists have encountered difficulties in discovering the stages, with traffic and roadworks all proving to be obstacles in the days leading up to the Grande Partenza (Grand Start)."

Gianni Meersman, the sports director of the Alpecin-Deceuninck team, said his team was forced to take their bikes in the car after saying the idea of ​​exploring Tirana by bike was 'extremely dangerous'.

“We explored it by car,” Meersman said. “On the way, we were discussing whether we should try it with cyclists. Then we saw Astana in the middle of traffic and suddenly decided we weren’t going to do it. That was extremely dangerous.”

Other teams also decided not to risk driving through Tirana, saying that the traffic was crazy.

Team Visma's Wout van Aert said the experience was hectic. Van Aert used the word "unpredictable" to describe the road conditions, as road workers were on duty through Wednesday and Thursday, laying fresh asphalt on the roads.

"It's not dramatic everywhere, but it's unpredictable where the potholes will appear. [It's] not meant as criticism, but it's just different from what we're used to," Van Aert said.

A report from the Danish website Feltet showed that repairs and laying of fresh asphalt were still ongoing in the days before the race started.

“We rode around the first stage [on Wednesday] and the positive thing is that they have started repairing the roads for tomorrow,” came an eyewitness account from Bjarke Vodder Nielsen, a Danish cyclist living in Albania. “I have never seen so many asphalt workers on an Albanian road,” he said.

 

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