From the tricolore to the pink jersey: Belluno’s unforgettable 2 June
2 June 2026 | Dolomiti Belluno Editorial Team
There was a moment, early this afternoon, when Belluno was two things at once: a city that had just celebrated eighty years of the Republic, and a city about to turn pink. The flag still flying high above Piazza Duomo, and already in Piazza dei Martiri the athletes were warming up, teams adjusting their bikes, spectators pressing against the barriers. Two celebrations in one. A day not easily forgotten.
A morning of memory and the Republic
The morning had been a full one, and rightly so. The city marked the 80th anniversary of the Italian Republic with a ceremony that wound through the historic centre: from the War Memorial to Piazza Duomo, with the Belluno Fanfare Band leading the procession, an honour guard from the 7th Alpine Regiment, flag-raising by the Fire Brigade, and the President of the Republic’s message read aloud by the Prefect of Belluno. Large crowds, military and civil authorities, and the memory of those no longer with us — fallen of the First and Second World Wars — providing a solemn backdrop to everything else.
A serious morning, as it should be. And then, within a matter of hours, the city changed its clothes.
Piazza dei Martiri finally alive
Anyone who knows Piazza dei Martiri knows it is one of the most beautiful squares in the Veneto — and knows equally well how often it goes underused, a silent backdrop in a city that struggles to fill its own public spaces. Today was different. Today the square was alive: coloured barriers, big screens, music, children in pink T-shirts, families on the steps, cyclists who had ridden in from all directions, and enthusiasts with eyes already fixed on the timing board. The start village for the Belluno–Nevegal Time Trial, the fourth stage of the Giro d’Italia Donne, had transformed the city’s finest drawing room into something rare: a place to stay in, not just pass through.
As time-trial tradition dictates, riders set off in reverse order of classification: the lowest-placed first, then gradually the stronger contenders, with anticipation building minute by minute toward the starting times of the big names. The atmosphere in the start area was the kind only a time trial creates: absolute concentration and restrained tension, each athlete in a world of her own — headphones in, eyes fixed on some distant point, legs spinning slowly on the rollers.
The photographs shared by our friends from the Alpini group of Salce — who were there for the pink occasion — capture it perfectly: those riders in the start house were not relaxed, even if they looked it. They were already racing.
The big names’ countdown: eleven starts, one long wait
One every three minutes, with the precision of clockwork. And the further the afternoon advanced, the heavier the names on the board became. At 15:28 it had been Barbara Malcotti who opened the final eleven; three minutes later, at 15:31, the British rider Lauren Dickson rolled down the ramp. Familiar names, but not yet the ones the crowd was holding its breath for.
At 15:34 it was the turn of Demi Vollering, Dutch, Trek, one of the obligatory favourites on any climb. Three minutes later the stopwatches had truly begun to matter, and the square was already breathing a different kind of air. At 15:37 the ramp swallowed Silvia Persico, UAE, to the applause of those who would cheer for her regardless — because she is Italian and because she gives everything she has. At 15:40 New Zealander Niamh Fisher-Black set off, Lidl-Trek, with the class and talent to frighten anyone.
Then, at 15:43, the moment many had been waiting for: Anna Van der Breggen, SD Worx, 36, four career pink jerseys. A living legend descending the ramp as though every time trial were both the first and the last. The square applauded loudly. Those who know cycling recognise certain names even without a signboard.
The rhythm did not stop: at 15:46 Célia Gery (France, Trek), at 15:49 Margaux Vigie (France, TV Loire), two riders with everything to gain on such a selective course. At 15:52 Elisa Longo Borghini descended the ramp, UAE, to long and sincere applause — among the best climber-specialists against the clock in the field, Italian, someone who feels at home on the hills around Belluno. Three minutes later, at 15:55, American Lily Williams, HB Pickett, completed the sequence of contenders.
Then, at 15:58, the last. The one the crowd had been waiting longest for: Elisa Balsamo, Lidl-Trek, pink jersey on her shoulders, three consecutive stage wins. The rider from Piedmont descended the ramp under a shower of applause that alone felt like a victory. The last to start in a time trial is the one with the most to defend — and she knew it.
Up to the Nevegal, as in the old days
The Belluno–Nevegal Time Trial brought back a fine page of local cycling history: the men’s hillclimb that, years ago, had drawn thousands of spectators along the entire route climbing toward the summit, from the first hairpins all the way to the finish at altitude. Then as now, the Nevegal proved a natural stage for a race against the clock: the climb is demanding enough to separate the field, the setting is that of the Belluno mountains, and any rider knows she is being watched — from below and from above.
Today the weather played its part: Jupiter Pluvius on standby, no bothersome wind, temperatures suited to a day of outdoor sport. The riders were able to give their all on a 12.7 km course that leaves no room for half-measures, and the crowd — in the square, along the hairpins, at the finish — could enjoy the spectacle without the weather surprises so common in these parts.
Van der Breggen flies, the pink jersey changes shoulders
When the times settled, the name at the top of the classification was the one few had expected to see so dominant: Anna Van der Breggen covered the 12.7 km in 31’38”, averaging 24.1 km/h. A performance in a class of its own, which made it immediately clear that the stage was over before the last riders had even finished arriving.
In second place, 1’04” back, was Swiss rider Marlen Reusser; third Demi Vollering at 1’10”, having already posted a highly respectable time when the classification was still open. First Italian home was Monica Trinca Colonel, fifth overall — a fine result. Elisa Longo Borghini finished eighth at 1’51”: not the result she had hoped for, but the Giro is long.
And Balsamo? The pink jersey had given everything, but the hillclimb time trial was not her terrain. At the finish, the pink jersey changed hands. Van der Breggen — who knows that symbol well, having worn it four times before in her career, the first back in 2015 — accepted it with the composure only the greats possess when they win without being surprised at having won. The moment of the handover, on our roads, beneath our mountains: one of those images that stay with you.
The Giro does not stop. On Wednesday, stage five will take the peloton from Longarone to Santo Stefano di Cadore, 146 km. The Dolomites again. All Belluno again, from start to finish.
A city that knows how to rise to the occasion
What remains, at the end of a day like this, is an image of Belluno not often seen: a city capable of doing several things at once, and doing them well. The morning ceremony, sober and well-attended. The pink afternoon, colourful and festive. Public spaces finally put to use. People in the streets not because they have to be, but because they want to be.
In one week Belluno has seen both the men’s and women’s Giro pass through. It has celebrated eighty years of the Republic. It has filled its squares. That is no small thing — in fact, it is quite a lot. A run of events that a city needs every now and then, to remind itself of what it is capable of.
ENJOY THE PHOTOS FROM BELLUNO’S PINK DAY
See you in Longarone.
© Dolomiti Belluno | 2 June 2026