Saturday, March 22nd, the SAN REMO, still starting from Pavia, will draw international attention with its one hundred and sixteenth - 116 in figures - edition of the "spring classic", a monument of cycling that has entered both sports history and cultural tradition.

After the "go" from the noble city crossed by the Ticino river, the route will head into Oltrepò and then follow the classic path to reach, climbing from the easier side, the Turchino Pass that leads to the Riviera di Ponente with variations, compared to the original, of climbs and/or steep sections inserted since the 1960s to select the main group that would almost always arrive for the sprint finish on Via Roma in the city of flowers.

And, before the start of the Turchino climb, it will pass through the lands of champions in the Alessandria area with names of primary resonance in cycling history and, in the province of Genoa, halfway up the not prohibitive ascent, passing through Rossiglione, a characteristic town that gave birth to a personality - perhaps improper to use this term for Giuseppe Castelnovi - a distinguished journalist at La Gazzetta dello Sport, very close to directors like Gino Palumbo and Candido Cannavò, who in his role as editor-in-chief, shunned any form of visibility and deeply loved cycling, especially Fausto Coppi, and his work. This was already from his journalistic beginnings in Genoa before moving to Milan, to La Gazzetta, working assiduously in various roles and teaching by example to young journalists of the pink newspaper. He is also the author who signed remarkable cycling books, sometimes in collaboration with other valuable journalists.

He passed away on November 24th, 2023, at the age of 92.

Respecting his way of being, we wish to at least remember him in this circumstance for his claimed Genoese identity - he was also very close to the Giro dell'Appennino - to those who knew him and, as a logical consequence, respected and loved him.

A thought of simple, affectionate remembrance that - we believe - is due to "Castel" or the "Admiral", as he had been nicknamed by his fellow citizen, colleague, and friend, the eclectic Marco Pastonesi.

g.f.