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Giro d’Italia brings joy to earthquake-shattered region

Sitting at the door of the blue canvas tent that has been his home for nearly two months now, Franco Ciccozzi checked his wristwatch. He wanted to know if it was time to turn on his television and forget, at least for a few hours, that his life was in shambles after an earthquake hit his town last month.

“It destroyed my house and my car, all my belongings,” said Ciccozzi, who is 70 and a retired automobile mechanic.

His eyes grew teary as he spoke and he turned away to wipe them.

“But every day, every day, I watch cycling on TV; I watch the Giro d’Italia,” he said. “It’s good for me. It helps me not think about my problems.”

For the residents of L’Aquila, like Ciccozzi, the Giro — particularly the Italian Danilo Di Luca, who is riding in it — is a needed distraction.

Di Luca is from the region of Abruzzo, which includes L’Aquila, and has vowed to win the Giro to bring hope where the earthquake left only despair.

About 65,000 people in the central Italian region were displaced when the earthquake hit before dawn on April 6, leaving more than 300 people dead.

Homeless residents like Ciccozzi now live in tent villages.

A group of former professional cyclists from Italy, including the sprint star Mario Cipollini, rode through the affected region on Tuesday — the Giro’s second rest day — to bring some joy to the people of the region.

For the people of Abruzzo, though, Di Luca, of the LPR Brakes-Farnese Vini team, gives them someone specific to cheer during the three-week race.

When Di Luca won Stage 4 of this 21-stage race, he turned to the fans at the finish line, showing off the words, Forza Abruzzo, or “Go Abruzzo,” on the side of his jersey.

“Di Luca has the real spirit of the Abruzzo people because he is tough, very tough; he is a symbol of this region,” said Alessandra D’Ettorre, a cyclist from Abruzzo who is on the Italian national cycling team.

“This is a small region, without so many people, so everybody knows everybody and it’s very important that Di Luca wins the Giro for us,” D’Ettorre said. “Because we all have a fear of being forgotten.”

Don Giovanni Mandozzi, a Catholic priest, counseled parishioners after the earthquake, including one woman who had refused to change her clothes after her daughter was killed. She agreed to do so only if she wore her daughter’s clothing from now on.

“There are a lot of psychological issues to deal with,” he said.

While representatives from the Italian soccer federation show up every Monday afternoon to organize matches with the town’s children, Mandozzi has his own way of distracting himself.

“Who won the Giro yesterday?” he asked a reporter on Monday.

“Sports are very, very important in Italy, and I even shortened Mass once last year to see the end of the Giro,” he said.

“But it’s more important for us now because it brings us together,” he said.
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