A representation with a decisive female traction, both on the speakers' stage and in the media audience, for an event that wants to emphasize the role of women, even beyond cycling. At SACBO, the company managing Orio al Serio (Milan Bergamo) Airport, a very special presentation of the 27th BGY Airport Granfondo was held, organized by Beppe Manenti's GMS, scheduled for Sunday May 4th between Bergamo and the Orobic valleys. A territory that last year was named the most livable and sporty in Italy, and that will host the grand start of the Giro Women in July.

While the technical details of the granfondo are left to periodic press releases and the comprehensive official website, what was officially "launched" yesterday afternoon was the common thread connecting this event to the role of women, in view of the day and month dedicated to them.

First, the results of some studies conducted both by GMS and by Censis were presented. In the BGY Airport Granfondo female participation, after 1% in the late 1990s, has recently stabilized at 5% of the total, but last year there was an increase to 6% that suggests a steady growth, in line with the overall increase in female cycling amateurs and cycle tourists. This connects to the Censis survey from two years ago, which found a direct proportionality between sports practice and female employment: for example, Trentino Alto Adige is first in both sports practice (50.4%) and female employment (66.2%), Lombardy is fourth in one ranking (34.9%) and sixth in the other (60.4%), while Sicily is second to last in "women in sports" (17.4%) and last in "employed women" (30.5%). In other words: where women practice more sports, they tend to be more emancipated and integrated into various societal spheres, starting with the work environment.

To highlight this concatenation of concepts and principles, the granfondo organizers and the main sponsor BGY Airport have added to the slogan Pedal and let pedal the campaign Pedal! Without brakes and without heels, graphically expressed with orange-fuchsia tones and drawings of a pair of women's high-heeled shoes and bicycle brakes: an impactful visual representation, conceived by patron Manenti himself, who has a very close relationship with the arts. In fact, each edition is associated with the promotion of an artist. And this year, ten years after the last time, the artist who will have the opportunity to exhibit their work during the granfondo will be a woman: Cosetta Arzuffi.

Distinctive ingredients of this campaign are the presence of the red bench against gender violence at every event directly related to the granfondo, free registration for women from 8 am to 8 pm tomorrow (March 8th) and a collaboration between BGY Airport Granfondo and the Ghisallo Museum: also tomorrow, at the museum facility in Magreglio, which preserves the spirit and memories of cycling near the cyclists' sanctuary, entrance will be free for women and there will be a series of insights with special guest Welsh ex-cyclist Nicole Cooke, who will donate her Olympic champion jersey from Beijing 2008, the same year she won the World Championships in Varese.

Women are already a fundamental component of this granfondo: from six-time speaker Renata Amigassi to a sponsor's CEO like Laura Colnaghi Calissoni (Carvico, high-quality fabrics company) to the 11-time race director, a role still very male in Italy, Mara Mologni. And then, returning to the opening of this article, 4 out of 5 speakers yesterday were women...

Giovanni Sanga, Sacbo President

"We were the first 'bike-friendly' airport in Europe, not only because some European tourism segments, especially Nordic, are increasingly cultivating the healthy habit of cycling every day, but because we wanted to offer an additional opportunity to our employees. Supporting the Bergamo granfondo is part of this direction. I'm proud to say that at Sacbo, not for a formal respect of pink quotas but for real equal opportunities, we have many women even in top-level roles."

Amelia Corti, Sacbo General Manager

"We believe it's important to promote female employment based on true qualities and merit, not simply because of gender. In our group, which includes Sacbo Spa and BGY International Services, there is a 51% of women and almost 40 nationalities. We are used to 'thinking differently' and valuing not only work strictly speaking, but also sustainability and health care: hence the importance of sports and cycling in our operations. One of the reasons we were recognized as a bike-friendly airport is the presence of a cycling ring around the airport, then branching out into the territory."

Giorgia Gandossi, Bergamo Provincial Councilor

"Promoting the territory through sports is not done only with Atalanta and volleyball, but also with small clubs that form the basis of sports. I'm present at every edition of the BGY Airport Granfondo and it's an extraordinary spectacle. When talking about women's sports, moreover, we must move beyond the continuous comparison with the corresponding male sport, enjoying the peculiar show that female athletes provide. Cycling is tracing a luminous path in this sense."

Lara Magoni, MEP and Provincial CONI Delegate

"When traveling, infrastructures are an element that strikes more than many others and we must be proud of an airport like this, which embraces the healthy values and lifestyles strictly related to the bicycle. My dad had a bar with a 'Forza Gimondi' sign and for me Felice was a reference to be reached, although I then became a champion in skiing: I can't forget that this granfondo was born as Granfondo Felice Gimondi, I thank Sacbo for giving it new life after the pandemic."

Federica Picchi, Lombardy Region Sports Delegate

"Praise to the organizers also for how they decided to link the event to women. Sports is an extraordinary social catalyst and a tool for training and dignity, it teaches self-awareness and educates to sacrifice. As a region, we finance multiple sporting events and initiatives at all levels, both on the competitive and social level, like 'A Thrust Against Cancer'."

Last but not least, a national champion like Elisa Longo Borghini. Absent because preparing for Strade Bianche near Siena, she wanted to be present through a video message: "I hope that Women's Day won't be remembered only with a flower or greetings, but for the value that women bring to society. And, in our case, to a formidable vehicle of female emancipation like sports."