Alonso at the Giro d’Italia: “Happy to be here supporting my fellow countrymen”
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Plan de Corones, 25 May – Apart from football, cycling is Fernando Alonso’s favourite sport. Not only does the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro driver like to ride a bike as part of his fitness programme, he also loves attending the major races. These past few days, Fernando has been in Maranello to prepare for the Turkish Grand Prix on the simulator and he just could not miss out on the chance to see at first hand one of the key stages of the Giro d’Italia, the San Vigilio di Marebbe – Plan de Corones time trial: 12.9 kilometres all uphill, with a maximum gradient of 24%, with the final section run on poorly surfaced roads. “It’s my first time at the Giro and I’m very happy to be here,” said the Ferrari driver, who visited the South Tyrolean stage along with Stefano Domenicali. “I am a friend of Carlos Sastre and I am here to support him and all the other Spanish cyclists.”
Fernando followed his friend Carlos’ progress every step of the way, on the back of a support motorbike and then took part in the prize-giving ceremony, where he met another fellow countryman, David Arroya, who managed to keep the pink jersey, as race leader. Even in all the excitement at the Plan de Corones, Fernando could not fail to mention the next event on the Scuderia’s calendar, namely this coming weekend’s Turkish Grand Prix: “Istanbul will be a very important race for us, not just for this championship, but also in terms of the history of Ferrari, as it will be the Scuderia’s eight hundredth Grand Prix.
That will be a further motivating factor to get a good result and try and make it to the podium, hopefully ahead of the Red Bulls. The team has worked very hard in the days following the Monaco Grand Prix and I leave for Turkey in a confident and optimistic mood. Furthermore, if you think that, of the first six races, four times I found myself last or thereabouts after the opening laps and I am third in the world championship, three points off the leader, I have no reason not to be confident…”