
The controversy and, above all, the bitterness of the managers of the Dino Diddi sports group from Agliana, chaired by Maurizio Mangoni, does not subside regarding the forced route change of their classic race for juniors, which has 76 editions, to avoid overlapping with the professional G.P. Industria e Artigianato in Larciano. The two races are scheduled for Sunday, September 7th, and on this matter, the G.S. Dino Diddi has sent a letter recalling the history and importance of the junior race, and the athletes who have competed in it, from Bugno to Nibali, Viviani, Pogacar.
"This year - it reads - despite the objective importance of the event, the organization found itself facing a paradoxical situation, on the same date the Larciano GP was scheduled, without any prior communication, making it impossible for the Dino Diddi Cup to use its traditional route through San Baronto and Vinci, significantly complicating the logistics of the entire organization. Not even passion, commitment, and achieved results were enough to protect our event - the letter continues - both the Federation and the Larciano organization have hidden behind the fact that the UCI calendar is sealed by a larger system and therefore impossible to modify. We recognize the value and importance of what Larciano is doing to grow its race, but it would have been nice if our association had been invited to that planning meeting, which was sold to us as an opportunity to grow Tuscany's cycling, to discuss something structured and constructive for the entire cycling movement and our territory. In fact, the manner in which this decision was made represents a clear signal of disinterest towards youth cycling, an increasingly lacking dialogue between Federations and organizing societies, and perhaps youth races are being ignored too lightly. The only proposal received - the letter concludes - was to change the event's date, without any project, without concretely arriving at feasible proposals, both for logistical and calendar reasons. With all the resulting problems, and with sadness, we have therefore decided to change the route".