Adnkronos (Adnkronos) – The "Slow Cyclist Festival" returns to Ferrara, celebrating its tenth edition this year. From October 23rd to 25th, a rich program of rides, meetings, music, and tastings will enliven the city of the Este family. The highlight of the three-day event is the world's slowest pedal race, inviting "the beautiful people who pedal" (the Festival's motto) to ride 5 kilometers in 5 hours, enjoying the views, stories, beauty, and delicacies of the area.
All without the anxiety of timed performances. After all, the slow cyclist "hates competition" and "doesn't need trophies to convince himself he's worthy." It's written in black and white in the Manifesto, which also states that the slow cyclist is "a happy, peaceful, and enjoyable person," who asks for nothing more "than to be left behind, enjoying the ride more than the finish line, the view more than the odometer."
In addition to the world's slowest ride, the cycling event includes the Granfondo del Merendone, the Slow Cyclist Gala with a musical show on "What the Road Doesn't Say," and an evening dedicated to inclusive sport and African cycling. And more: authors on pedals, guided tours, awards for the slowest, Este delicacies such as pasticcio ferrarese and torta tenerina, music, and champions, both male and female, teammates and enthusiasts who, this year too, will be playing with all the participants to go slowly—no, pianissimo! "Slow cyclists will save the world: from the arrogance of speed; from the boredom of ranking firsts; from the conformism of the champion alone in command," the organizers ironically emphasize.
"Blessed are the last who know how to enjoy life" is the philosophy behind the Ferrara event dedicated to slow cycling, celebrating those who use roads and cycle paths to pedal slowly, without any particular talent for the sport, without times to respect or records to set.
Some choose to ride a bicycle for the sheer pleasure of pedaling and getting around easily on an eco-friendly and economical means of transport. Some use their bikes daily, to go to work or shopping, to take the kids to school, to enjoy the city, both in their free time and otherwise, while also demanding safety.
The Slow Cyclist Festival celebrates its tenth anniversary at the end of October. It was born 10 years ago, partly for the sake of paradox and partly as a joke, from the mind of Guido Foddis, musician and editor of the newspaper La Repubblica delle Biciclette, who for years has been reporting cycling events, particularly the Giro d'Italia, from a unique perspective: "I was captivated by the cycling races by Marco Pastonesi, a writer and journalist for the Gazzetta dello Sport. He didn't interview cycling champions, but rather the domestiques, the water bottle carriers, those who struggled to stay within the time limit of the classification. He had a particular passion for the unfortunate, those who punctured in the final kilometer, those who could have... but for one reason or another, failed to achieve their sporting objective. From this upside-down view of the classification and the dominant values in cycling, I thought that a festival dedicated to cycling as he would have wanted it, and as I would have liked it too, didn't yet exist."
The first editions first attracted champion Gibì Baronchelli, a convert to the slow pace and pleasure of cycling, free from the stresses of competition. Then came Gianni Bugno, Gilberto Simoni, Silvio Martinello, Giuseppe Saronni, and Alessandra Cappellotto to the Ferrara stage of anti-competitive cycling. And with them, the prestigious national sponsorships of the Ministry of the Environment, ISPRA, Sport&Health, and the Italian Paralympic Committee. Media attention grew year after year, bringing RAI television crews and journalists from around the world to Ferrara each year, captivated by the originality of the format and the Festival's setting in Ferrara, a city lacking in cycling champions but where cars on the roads are outnumbered by bicycles.
Over time, Guido Foddis's "joke" has reinvented itself, finding inspiration and ethical values where slowness isn't a nonconformist choice but a necessary condition. For example, from Paralympic cycling to grassroots associations, discovering and reevaluating those who pedal to combat the degenerative effects of Parkinson's disease, those who use cycling to mitigate a disability, or simply those who choose a pedal-assist bicycle because they no longer have the strength to pedal but prefer to leave a car in the garage to do the shopping. In short, to give a voice to those who are slow cyclists not for the sport but for life. Slowness as a paradigm for being successful, for others but above all for oneself, even without crossing the finish line among the first. And to enjoy not the athletic performance but the landscape, the company, and, why not, even the refreshments that a champion must renounce, such as cappellacci with pumpkin or salama da sugo Ferrarese. Gladly leaving the energy bars and maltodextrins to the fast cyclists.
For its tenth edition, the 2026 Slow Cyclist Festival once again celebrates its "bad athletes" with a series of rides, training sessions, and shows. It begins on Friday, October 23rd at 8:00 PM at the La Casona cycling club in Cassana with a recital by Marco Pastonesi dedicated to the pioneering races taking place in Africa on his "Strade Nere" (Ediciclo editore, 2025), named after his recent bestseller, which came in second place in the 2026 Bancarella Prize.
The following day, again at 8:00 PM at La Casona, cycling communicator and influencer Alan Marangoni will recount his career, lacking in individual successes but rich in anecdotes and ethical values. A domestique to Peter Sagan, Ivan Basso, and Vincenzo Nibali—all true champions—he now shares his insights into cycling on the highly followed YouTube channel GCN Italia, with humor and insight, followed by hundreds of thousands of followers.
On Saturday, October 24th, Ferrara's historic center will host the "5Km in 5 Hours," recognized as the slowest race in the world and now replicated in several other Italian cities. It will feature a diverse roster of Paralympic athletes, both men and women. On Sunday the 25th, it will be the turn of the Granfondo del Merendone, pedaling slowly with Alan Marangoni along the bike paths that wind along Ferrara's waterways. Finally, the partnership with Anffas Ferrara and the Stella Alpina sports club in Renazzo will expand the offering with sports workshops designed specifically for children and people with disabilities.
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