Allianz and Eroica join forces in cycling and social work
A large gathering from all corners of the world
A great gathering from every corner of the world to travel the roads through the Tuscan hills; a race with neither winners nor losers that, this year, thanks to the contribution of the Allianz UMANA MENTE Foundation, has taken on a social guise.
This is the spirit of L’Eroica, a cycling competition created in 1997 in Gaiole in Chianti, in the province of Siena, to evoke historic cycling with vintage bicycles and clothing, along the dirt roads that wind through the vineyards and olive groves of Chianti and Val d’Orcia.
For this special event, held every year in the first days of October and among the most anticipated in the world of cycling, the Allianz UMANA MENTE Foundation, in collaboration with L’Eroica, has created a project called “SuperEroica,” to allow people with disabilities to participate in the competition as well and, at the same time, to send a cultural message and show that there are no limits to the possibility of competing. The Foundation thus created the “Team SuperEroica” consisting of five young people with disabilities, together with their athletic trainers and a group of volunteers, for a total of more than twenty people, who together took part in the sports competition.
This is the adventure that the “SuperEroica” special, produced by Bike Show TV and broadcast in two episodes in October, aims to recount with footage of the pre-race moments and interviews with the protagonists of the project. Among the testimonials is that of Piergiorgio, a young man with a passion for cycling, who works at Orto Felice, the social garden of the Allianz UMANA MENTE Foundation in Borgo San Felice, Relais #38; Chateaux and farm owned by the Allianz Group, located a few kilometers from Gaiole in Chianti. Already in 2019 Piergiorgio had participated in L’Eroica, riding more than 100 kilometers on his bicycle wearing the Allianz UMANA MENTE Foundation jersey.
“An important challenge faced by the 5 ‘Heroes’ on a long route to break down many barriers,” comments Nicola Corti, Secretary General of the Allianz UMANA MENTE Foundation, who adds, “Today, Pietro, Piergiorgio, Daniele, Riccardo and Nicolas are our Heroes, the real protagonists of this beautiful adventure of social cycling. These boys have shown us that the desire to pedal, to compete, but above all to be together can make people overcome obstacles previously thought insurmountable.”
But “SuperEroica” was also an opportunity to organize a series of side events such as a visit to Borgo San Felice, which hosted the Team, the discovery of its renowned wineries, a walk to the Orto Felice, to the pre-L’Eroica training with a climb to the Castle of Brolio, a medieval manor house overlooking the valley.
With this initiative, the Allianz UMANA MENTE Foundation once again underscored its commitment to sports as a vehicle to encourage full participation in social life for people with disabilities and as a privileged space for inclusion. Just to name a few other examples in the sports field, over the years the Foundation has activated collaborations with the Italian Wheelchair Basketball Federation and the Italian Wheelchair Hockey Federation, launched together with Allianz Powervolley Milano the Volley4All project, volleyball for all, up to the support of the ObiettivoSci project together with Obiettivo3, to recruit and train young athletes eager to take up Paralympic alpine skiing.
