Hardly any bikes on the streets, and the best local rider is a fourth-rate rider: a Grand Tour start in the cycling desert

Pink colors are reflected in the monument in the port city of Durres, which commemorates the odyssey of the sugar freighter "Vlora." In August 1991, more than 10,000 people stormed the ship, leaving Albania for Italy in the hope of a better life. Images of the overcrowded freighter went around the world. Now Italy has come to Durres. The 108th Giro d'Italia began on Friday in the very port area from which the "Vlora" once set out.

It was a sign, albeit a hidden one. The monument, shaped like a ship's prow, wasn't particularly honored during the Giro ceremonies. It was located closer to the Giro entourage's parking lot than to the stage—but still close enough to capture a few pink reflections from the temporary Giro village with its mirrored elements.

"There's a long history between the two countries," said Luca Guercilena, team boss of Lidl-Trek, as an argument for the Grande Partenza on the other side of the Adriatic. "For us Italians, it's also nice to start close to home." Making the opening even more enjoyable, fellow Danish rider Mads Pedersen won the first and third stages and is wearing the overall leader's pink jersey after the opening weekend.

In fact, this 15th Giro d'Italia start abroad is one of the closest to Italy geographically. Durres is just a ferry ride across the Adriatic. Further away were Jerusalem in 2018, Belfast in 2014, and Amsterdam in 2010. But never before has the second-most important race started in a country where cycling is as insignificant as in Albania. In Jerusalem, at least, the founding of the Israel Premier Tech racing team tipped the scales. Albania, however, is a cycling desert. Jens Zemke, the sports director of the Swiss racing team Q36.5 , hasn't really felt the cycling fever in the country. He said: "When the Giro started in the Netherlands or Israel, everything was pink. The shop windows were full of bicycles, the enthusiasm was enormous. Now you realize that Albania isn't exactly a cycling country. You also see few people on bikes."

Albanian professional cyclists are also hard to come by. The current best is eleven-time national champion Ylber Sefa. He rides for a Belgian team at club level, i.e. in the fourth performance category. There has at least been one Giro participant born in Albania. Eugert Zhupa took part in the Tour four times in a row from 2015 to 2018 for an Italian racing team. However, he emigrated to Italy with his parents as a child. The fact that he, arguably the most important Albanian cyclist of all time, did not receive an official invitation angered him, as the daily newspaper "Il Foglio" wrote. "I would have liked to have been a reference point for Albanian cycling. But I was not asked," he is quoted as saying. In his adopted home of Italy, he coaches young cyclists.

There are no obvious sporting reasons for the Giro d'Italy kicking off. The political and economic aspects are more obvious. The Giro's premiere happened to fall on the weekend of the parliamentary elections. This led the Albanian public to assume that Prime Minister Edi Rama, who has ruled for more than a decade and whose popularity ratings have recently fallen, had brought the cycling festival to the country in a variation of the famous bread-and-circuses formula of the Roman Caesars. That's not entirely true. The World Tour calendar will ultimately be approved in Aigle, the headquarters of the International Cycling Union (UCI ). Internal political aspects in Albania are unlikely to play a role in this.

But Rama is using the Giro to portray himself as the man who brought the race to the country. In a video message, he praised: "The Giro d'Italia is a fantastic event that reaches 800 million people via 200 television stations around the world. For three days, Albania can show off its full splendor, while the people of Albania, especially the children, can enjoy the legendary Giro here on our soil."

At the Giro presentation earlier this year, he also recounted how the stage race had shaped him in his youth: "In the 1970s, the radio broadcasts of the Giro were a window to the world for us. And the fact that someone with my first name, Eddy Merckx, was in contention for victory back then inspired me to get on a bike myself." To complete the self-promotion, the façade of the newly constructed Skanderbeg skyscraper, shaped like a human head, overlooked the Giro village for the time trial on the second day. Officially, the head is supposed to represent the national hero Skanderbeg, but many Albanians recognize the face of Rama in the 25-story building.

Albania invested seven million euros in the Giro d'Italia opening event, citing hopes of boosting tourism. The record 10 million travelers through Tirana Airport last year are expected to increase to 12 million by 2025 – with a total population of 2.4 million.

There were, however, some irritations beforehand. The announcement of the three stages in Albania was delayed for months. "This was due to organizational and political reasons. We wanted to allow some time to pass after the media furor surrounding the deportation centers," admitted race director Mauro Vegni. "But the start in Albania was never up for debate." He praised the entire start as "one of the best-organized foreign starts in recent times. Lots of police on the streets, a very good atmosphere."