Two days remain for fans of the Giro d’Italia to enter a competition to leave their mark on the 2012 pink jersey. The organisers of the Italian race are running a unique initiative whereby the best tweets will be selected and printed inside next year’s Maglia Rosa, thus inspiring the rider who is wearing the jersey at the time.
“In 2012 the Maglia Rosa will transfer to all the riders who will wear it a support that they would never have thought of: a feeling that will come, via Twitter, from the fans who will share their passion for this landmark of history, courage and success in sports,” the organisers said. “Their tweets will be printed inside the 2012 Maglia Rosa and the best one will be placed on the collar.”
The competition is part of a push by the organisers RCS Sport to both modernise the image of the race and also to better interact with the supporters of the event.
A total of 20 tweets will be printed on the jerseys. Ten of these will come from the public, while the remaining ten will come from riders who have worn the jersey during their careers. 2006 and 2010 winner Ivan Basso was the first to decide his submission; “The first one is emotion, the second one is glory, the third is… a dream,” he wrote, presumably referring to his goal to take another edition of the race.
The initiative follows on from another where the Giro d’Italia’s Facebook page enabled fans to help determine the design of the Maglia Rosa 2012 by choosing among three layouts.
In recent years the Giro d’Italia has been regarded by many as the most innovative of the Grand Tours, featuring major climbs early on, taking the event onto the dust roads of Tuscany and to new, previously-unused climbs and even contemplating starting in Washington.
Here’s details of the competition – enter quickly, as time is ticking…
From now until 15th September 2011, followers of the Giro can tweet a 140 characters message, by using the official hashtag #Magliarosa, in which they describe the meaning that the Maglia Rosa has for fans, and encourage the champions who will wear it in 2012.
A selection of 100 tweets will be made, divided according to geographical origin, which will be
submitted eventually for evaluation by the fans of the Giro d’Italia on Facebook -
www.facebook.com/giroditalia. They will then choose the 10 best tweets, worthy of being printed on the 2012 Maglia Rosa.
Follow the Giro on Twitter: @giroditalia