RICCIONE – We often write about the brushstrokes champions leave on cycling roads. However, there are those who have taken this mission seriously and, after stepping away from professional cycling, have truly picked up a brush and begun to put those emotions on canvas. Among the many figures who have made the historic Italian Grand Depart is giving us the opportunity to meet, today we present to you Miguel Soro GarciaSpanish, born in 1976, three years as a pro between 2001 and 2003, antechamber to the incredible current artistic career.
«I raced for two years in a Portuguese team, Matesica and then I finished in Tuscany Miche, so I feel at home in Florence"He begins to tell us in excellent Italian, accompanied by his wife Patricia and his very curious daughter Alejandra. "I was a sprinter, every now and then I managed to win a sprint, and I remember sprinting with rivals like your friend Traversoni or the Portuguese Candido Barbosa."
Then, he delves further into his memory drawer and adds: «Basically, I was a rider from 1985 to 2003. The best moments, which I hold dear to my heart, are those in the youth categories. In 1994, I ran in the World Cup in Ecuador wearing the national team jersey and that was the first junior title in Spanish history thanks to the success of my teammate Miguel Morras."
From bicycles to paintings
From bicycles to paintings, the transition was truly poetic: «There is a moment when you realise that you have to change your life and that's what happened to me when I realised that my cycling career was coming to an end. Painting, in reality, was something innate because in Xàtiva (a small town in the Valencian Community, ed.) it's a tradition. Running has almost always been a hobby, because When I could, I ran away to paint outdoors. I started with landscapes, then, immediately after I stopped, I moved on to portraits of cyclists."
The Grand Depart was a great tour de force for the Spanish artist, who was in Ponte a Ema on Thursday morning, at Bartali Museum (where you can see eight works dedicated to the Tuscan myth until the end of August). In the afternoon, he moved to the heart of Florence, to Piazza Santa Croce, where he painted Ginettaccio again.
«The first portraits were inspired by the classic cycling, the black and white kind, where effort and heroism were the order of the dayI try to convey it with my works and, over time, I have also dedicated myself to the champions of the present."
The taste of details
Like at the last Giro d'Italia when, during the penultimate stage, he celebrated Tadej Pogacar and his pink apotheosis with a painting.
«We had set up a temporary exhibition at the Nardini Garage – he explains – a historic distillery from the late eighteenth century, which was located a few meters from the finish line. I did a previous study and recovered some images from the past when the Giro passed through BassanoIncluding Merckx's victory in those parts, or the pink bridge that was illuminated 100 days before the start of the Corsa Rosa. Besides painting the protagonist, I enjoy making a collage of images, like newspaper clippingsIn that case, I also paid homage to the place I was at, namely the Nardini Garage. For example, I pretended that his water bottle contained Mezzo e Mezzo, one of their liqueurs. It's a bit of a game; whoever sees my work... From afar he only notices the rider depicted but then, as he gets closer, he gets lost in the various details».
Milan's autograph
Friday night, Soro's traveling office has moved to Trek Store, not far from the Cascine Park. On this occasion, in addition to paying homage to the Lidl Trek with works depicting for example a Elisa Longo Borghini in the Roubaix velodrome, received a special autograph like that of the Olympian Jonathan Milan, who signed the work depicting one of his triumphs at the Giro d'Italia in the cyclamen jersey.
«It was a truly emotional and intense meeting. Jonathan surprised me because he said he already knew me "I'm so happy," Soro says, "since six years ago he received a lithograph of one of my paintings as a prize during the Vuelta Valenciana. He gave me a wonderful gift with his signature, and it was nice to receive it from a sprinter who is much more successful than me."
Miguel smiles, before asking another special guest of the evening for a souvenir photo: Ballon d'Or winner Fabio Cannavaro, a great cycling enthusiast.
From Ganna to Pantani
From Tuscany to Romagna, On Saturday evening Miguel took us to discover his permanent collection, jealously guarded in the corridors of theHotel Gambrinus in RiccioneThe portraits of Fausto and Serse Coppi, the Pirate Marco Pantani, and Filippo Ganna speeding by on his rainbow-clad racing car. This latest work didn't escape the gaze of some special guests. of the hotel of Maria Grazia Nicoletti, that is, the members of the Ganna and Sobrero families, who came to cheer on the young talent from Cuneo of the Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe team: Matteo SobreroA group photo and then everyone went to rest in preparation for the next adventure.
Miguel Soro's Tour of Italy could only end with the departure from Cesenatico, the birthplace of the late Pirate. Pantani is one of the subjects that the Valencian painter depicts most often, conveying the emotions Marco knew how to instill in us. His bold and aggressive portrait in yellow remains forever engraved in our hearts and, now, also on canvas.
