Negotiations that would bring one of the world’s premier cycling events, the Giro d’Italia, to Washington in 2012 are coming down the stretch. “We are working toward finalizing a deal that would work for everybody,” lawyer Mark Sommers told The Examiner. Later Thursday, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty and other main players in the project met at the Italian Embassy to discuss the planning process and rally support from sponsors. The District would become the first city outside Europe to host a portion of the Giro. How close is the deal to being done? “We’re on the cusp,” said Fenty, who is known for his own cycling exploits. Sommers heads the effort to bring the race to town and said they designed proposed courses for the Giro cyclists, but it is too early in the planning process to confirm how much the city would spend to host the event and what effect it would have on daily life in the nation’s capital. “Like any major event in D.C. it will have like impact on traffic, whether it’s a concert or a march or a demonstration,” said Sommers who added that other U.S. cities competing to host the start of the Giro “have been whittled away.” The Giro d’Italia is one of the three major European professional cycling stage races, in addition to the Tour de France and the Tour of Spain. The 2009 Giro featured 219 of the world’s best cyclists at the start, including Lance Armstrong. The 2012 edition will be its 95th. Cyclists in the Giro log more than 2,000 miles over separate stages. The start of the race would be held in Washington before the action moved to Italy. But flying across the Atlantic Ocean between stages might not be the best idea, according to the president of the Annapolis Bicycle Racing Club. “It would do so much for cycling around here to get the pros from Europe, but in the grand scheme it would be so hard on the cyclists,” Stu Waring said. Jet lag would harm their performance in Italy, Waring said. But Greg Odell, president and chief executive officer of the Washington Convention and Sports Authority, said having the Giro riders here would benefit the area. An event that typically lures millions of television viewers and crowds along the race route is “worth our time and energy and economic impact,” he said. Said Fenty: “From what I understand, cities that have hosted venues have had a great windfall into the city.”
