By Vatican News

Pope Leo XIV will greet the cyclists of the Giro d’Italia on Sunday, June 1 at 3:30 PM, as they pass through Vatican City State.

The event will also serve as a tribute to the late Pope Francis, who had embraced the initiative originally proposed by Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, Prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education, and implemented in cooperation with the Governorate of Vatican City State and Athletica Vaticana.

The project for the Giro d’Italia to pass through the Vatican—a symbolic “first stage” in anticipation of the Jubilee of Sport scheduled for Saturday, June 14 and Sunday, June 15—originated on October 28, 2021, according to a statement by the Dicastery for Culture and Education.

The occasion marked the formal presentation to Athletica Vaticana of its certificate of recognition as an official member of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI).

The initiative was publicly presented on April 29 at Capitoline Hill by Bishop Paul Tighe, Secretary of the Dicastery for Culture and Education.

Entry of the cyclists into Vatican City

The final stage of the 108th edition of the Giro d’Italia will start from the Baths of Caracalla. In a non-competitive format, the cyclists will enter Vatican City from Via Paolo VI through the Petriano Entrance.

The route within the Vatican walls spans approximately 3 kilometers: each meter tells a story and evokes a sense of spirituality, blending art and nature with an unexpectedly rich and diverse fauna.

The cyclists will ride alongside St. Peter’s Basilica and the sacristy, then ascend toward the Vatican Gardens, passing by the Church of Saint Stephen of the Abyssinians, the Vatican Railway Station, and through the area of the Governor’s Palace.

Exit through the Porta del Perugino

They will continue past the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery, the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, Saint John’s Tower, and the Vatican Heliport.

The route will then trace along the walls on the so-called “Marian Path”—a kind of “world tour” made possible by the presence of many images of the Mother of God, venerated as Patroness in various countries.

The path begins with the mosaic of Our Lady of Good Counsel, dear to Augustinian spirituality.

The route continues to the Quadrangular Garden and the Vatican Museums, including an avenue specifically dedicated to sport, recalling the competitions promoted by Pope Pius X in the early 1900s, even in the local street names.

The cyclists will then travel along Via delle Fondamenta, in the shadow of the Sistine Chapel and beside the apse of St. Peter’s Basilica, eventually arriving at Santa Marta Square, before exiting Vatican City through the Perugino Gate, onto Vicolo del Perugino.

Once back on Italian territory, there will be the official start of the Giro d’Italia’s final stage.