Giro d’Italia organizers arrived in Washington D.C. today and had a successful meeting with the city's Mayor Adrian Fenty, bringing the possibility of Italy's Grand Tour visiting North America one step closer to reality. The two parties have come to a tentative agreement to begin the 2012 edition of the race on American soil, specifically the nation's capital city Washington D.C.
Race director Angelo Zomegnan was pleased with the meeting, telling the New York Times, “We can’t say it will 100 percent start here, but we think that it is very, very possible and we’re moving forward to work together.”
Zomegnan knows it will be no easy task to bring the Giro across the Atlantic, but thinks logistically it is possible. “There are a lot of things that must happen in the next few weeks before we can say it’s 100 percent," he explained, "But I think it looks good.”
Mark Sommers, who is a part of the working group in charge of bringing the race to D.C., was optimistic about the task at hand telling VeloNation, "We have a tentative agreement [with the Giro organizers], and we have agreed on the large conceptual ideas."
Zomegnan presented Mayor Fenty with a Maglia Rosa in front of the Capitol building this afternoon to symbolize what they hope will be a successful effort to bring the race's Prologue and first stage to the District. Other potential host cities are rumored to be Philadelphia, New York, Boston and Toronto.