Giuseppe Campari, Alberto Ascari, Tazio Nuvolari, Stirling Moss, but also Ingrid Bergman, Alberto Tomba, Loris Capirossi, Joe Bastianich, Carlo Cracco: photos yellowed by time and famous faces bring to life every year the regularity event, which for a hundred years has attracted attention from every corner of the globe. We relived it in Prato della Valle, Padua.
Staging a blitz in Padua is always worth the time and resources invested, especially if in addition to the "Saint" par excellence, Anthony, and the Scrovegni Chapel – notwithstanding the fact that it was purchased by a prince… one of the loan sharks at whom the painter Giotto should have at least turned up his nose, if only for having worked with the Franciscan Friars – you end up in the blender of emotions that the "1000 Miglia" always allows.
Once again, we leapt onto that wave to ride, as if we were surfers who had landed in the kingdom of Italian excellence, and not just the Peninsula. It happened between Tuesday, May 9th and Wednesday, May 10th, 2026, before boarding a plane back to Malta.
It was the end of the first stage and the beginning of the second of the five stages of the 44th edition of the “Mille”, designed as a flying 8 from Brescia to Padua, and then off to Montecatini Terme, Rome and Rimini to return to the city commonly known as the Lioness in consideration of the extraordinary strength drawn from the heart during those 10 days of the 1849 revolt to free itself from Austrian oppression.
It is worth recalling some passages from Giosuè Carducci, who, inspired by his precursor Aleardo Aleardi, wrote a quarter of a century later: “Happy with fate, Brescia took me in, Brescia the strong, Brescia the iron, Brescia lioness of Italy, drank in enemy blood.”
Eleven months after the "Five Days of Milan," Brescia unleashed its own "Ten Days," demonstrating the tenacity and strength of the locals. We saw that ancient energy employed to free itself from certain constraints and regain possession of all the titles after a blunder dictated by economic needs, and certainly not by drawing on the event's immense historical reservoir.
Yes, because it is an event. Having shed the speed test hat worn from 1927 to 1957 for safety reasons, the "Mille" approaches the centenary of its birth once this 44th edition, dated 2026, has been consigned to the archives with 420 cars, 120 of which were Ferrari-branded, a far cry from that distorted idea of launching Luce in full electric mode...
In Prato della Valle, in the heart of Padua, we applauded in awe, especially those traveling in cars without roofs, given the insistent hail warnings announced by insurance apps, always punctual in spreading disasters because we now live in an equatorial climate with its devastating rains capable of turning into ice cubes at the latitudes of the Bel Paese.
While we wait to enjoy a spectacle the world envies us, we took a look at the kilometers already covered in the 2026 edition and those the lush caravan was called upon to cover to complete the adventure. And we dusted off some pleasant memories linked to:
- Brescia for the Giro d'Italia stages, also in homage to the memory of the Piazza della Loggia massacre of 1974, with those 9 dead and over 100 injured that cyclically pass before our eyes;
- Lumezzane and the Passo del Cavallo pass are areas renowned for their cycling passion and for hosting special events such as the Giro d'Italia, among others;
- Ferrara launched into the orbit of culturally elevated cities thanks to the Este family, supporters of a Renaissance second only to that of Florence and which has become a UNESCO World Heritage Site, also home to the faculty of medicine which with auto-blood transfusion revolutionised endurance sports in factories of stories which are sometimes sensational and sometimes repugnant;
- Motor Valley in Emilia-Romagna, so dear to lovers of classic cars thanks to Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, Pagani, Osella and so on;
- Abetone;
- Montecatini Terme will host the start of several time trial races as part of the 2013 Tuscany Cycling World Championships, which will also involve Pistoia, Lucca and – obviously – glittering Florence;
- Pietrasanta, a little princess of Versilia in the last foothills of the Apuan Alps, subjugated by Viareggio in fame, but with the dignity of a Little Athens, so much so that it was chosen by the great sculptor Fernando Botero, whose “Warrior” dominates Via Marconi;
- Siena with its Piazza del Campo overlooked by the Torre del Mangia, in whose shadow the Palio delle Contrade takes place twice a year and where every spring the Strade Bianche event arrives, which in a dozen years has become the southernmost cycling classic on dirt and clay roads in Europe, a synthesis of the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix;
- Rome: a treasure trove of everything, as it's also the birthplace and culmination of several memorable editions of the Giro d'Italia; a finish line coveted by nearly fifty thousand competitors in the most popular marathon in Italy; and a land of conquest at the Italian Open by Adriano Panatta and his illustrious successor and world number one Yannik Sinner;
- Assisi, just mentioning it takes you back 800 years and you find yourself in bliss with Saint Francis;
- Gubbio, known for its gigantic Christmas tree on Mount Ingino, is a medieval town of extraordinary beauty and well-preserved beauty, home to the Festa dei Ceri in mid-May, and so captivating that it was chosen as the setting for the popular TV series "Don Matteo," despite the wolves and all. The Giro d'Italia paid homage to it, and someone else brought the Spartan Race, the world's leading obstacle course racing event, to the city;
- Rimini, which without going back to the Romans, the Malatestas and Piero della Francesca, suggests stopping at the director Sergio Zavoli and his friend Federico Fellini, at "8 e mezzo", at the Grand'Hotel and at the provocative Gradisca to get the complete picture of what the Romagna Riviera has to offer;
- Mantua, birthplace of the poet Virgil, once a capital of culture and now an essential hub for gastronomy dedicated to making history;
- …Brescia, Viale Venezia. Full stop.
And the vintage cars? They left as they came, flanked by enthusiastic, curious, and applause-filled crowds, because certain sensations can only be experienced at the "1000 Miglia," despite its perceived status as a closed club for the rich and/or nouveau riche.
They are all cars belonging to the specific Register because they were used in at least one of the editions proposed between 1927 and 1957, dominated by the two-man crew, and which in the most recent 70 years "stamped" in Brescia in the days of the exciting eve and then competed in a regularity race (and no longer speed) divided into various categories such as "1000 Miglia", wax and proper, "Tribute" and "Gran Turismo Experience" with almost 150 checkpoints to pass.
And so from Giuseppe Campari, Alberto Ascari, Tazio Nuvolari and Stirling Moss, we moved on to Loris Capirossi and Giancarlo Fisichella, mixed with well-known and very well-known faces: Rowan Atkinson, Ingrid Bergman, Alberto Tomba, Joe Bstianich, Carlo Cracco, just to combine a little entertainment with trendy cuisine.
Who knows what the 2027 Centenary will bring… with Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz 300 SRL, Lancia, OM, Stanghellini, BMW 328, and so on: all original even in the accessories or restored according to the original standards and codified in the “Registro 1000”.
