We owe the worldwide success of L'Eroica to three fundamental elements: the context – the inimitable landscape of the Siena countryside

the enormous need to bring a great sport like cycling back to its authentic roots; and the continued preservation of the network of white roads. Add to the magical mix the original idea and the ever more enthusiastic participation of people from all over the world, a select group who share a common feeling and are sensitive to the themes of respect for others and for the cosmos. The resounding success of L'Eroica leads us to propose that these elements serve as a foundation on which to build: looking to the future starting from what the Gaiole in Chianti event was able to convey as it expanded, giving life to such a virtuous movement.

Apart from its great artistic and historical value, with no less than 5 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the Siena region offers a lot of real countryside, secondary roads with very little traffic, and a variety of landscapes, from Chianti to Val d'Arbia, from Val d'Orcia to the Crete Senesi. But the Sienese have had to come to terms with the reality of urban planning and landscape constraints. 

However, the white roads deserve special attention. They were the last element to be appreciated, having been an indicator of poverty for the entire twentieth century.

In 1997, since L'Eroica was linked to the preservation of the white roads, proposing to take road cycling off the asphalt roads, we have witnessed the birth of a series of new virtuous trends, starting with pre-1987 ‘Eroica’ bikes, but now extended to gravel and e-bikes.

The white roads opened the way to finding many new routes that were much freer from the onslaught of traffic, but the advent of the Eroica for professional cyclists, now known as the Strade Bianche, has reintroduced a new technical element even in professional cycling.

Europe, indeed the whole world, owes so much to what began in this region; just think that this special race that started in 2007, is now known as the "Sixth Monument" of classic cycling and is the only major race that has been added to the historical classics, which were all launched about a century earlier.

Today, especially for those who see the virtue in L'Eroica, also in terms of the resounding success of cycling tourism, the issue is to safeguard these white roads, which have been brought to the attention of the world media. They have become an example to follow, showing the way to reclaiming many parts of the world that were destined to be abandoned.

The white roads in the Siena region are now used in various ways, often responsibly, but there is no doubt that, for some time now, there is a need to maintain them and regulate their use. They have become a world destination for cyclists of all levels as well as for other forms of environmental tourism.

Our intention, in gratefully accepting the invitation of the European Parliament, is to request the creation of a working group that could create a project to definitively protect our network of white gravel roads, providing the local authorities of Siena with the tools and financial means to carry out the necessary maintenance.

An initial goal could be to start from the world renowned roads of L’Eroica, then to open up to the possibility of recuperating other peripheral roads, and so provide road cycling with new ways of avoiding the growing risks of busy, traffic-heavy roads.

Rather than seeking funding for the usual cycle paths, we suggest supporting projects to restore what we call "natural cycle paths", or marginal, untarred roads that, if they are well maintained and included in a network, could constitute attractive virtuous maps for cycling tourism, perhaps even without signage or other paraphernalia. Especially nowadays, when navigation technology makes it possible to travel independently, safely and without impacting the environment.