2014 Giro d'Italia stage 21

LOCAL HERO
That'll be Giordano Cottur then. In 1946 the stage to Trieste was heavy with symbolism. Italy had the city, but Tito's Yugoslavia wanted it, and so a scruffy little war over sovereignty continued long after the cessation. Slavic militants were determined that Trieste would be theirs, and therefore the Giro had no place there. As the riders approached the town they were pelted with stones, gunfire was heard and the road blocked with all manner of detritus.

The organizers annulled the stage, but local boy Cottur was having none of it. He knew that the city would erupt if they didn't appear, so he and 16 other patriots insisted on doing just that. American armoured cars dropped them on the outskirts of town, whereupon they saddled up once more. Cottur won the "stage" amidst delirious scenes, and calamity was averted.

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