1st Concetta Vitali Memorial – Coppa Ionica Road Race

A cycling race in the heart of Cassibile

The 1st Concetta Vitali Memorial – Coppa Ionica Road Race is an amateur cycling event held in Cassibile, a populous district of the Municipality of Syracuse in south-eastern Sicily. In its inaugural edition, the event was created as a memorial to Concetta Vitali and is part of the broader Coppa Ionica project, a circuit promoted by CSAIn Sicily that combines sport, regional promotion, and sustainable mobility along the Ionian coast.

The circuit and race format

The event is a criterium, a race held on a city circuit closed to traffic: a course of approximately 3 kilometers winding through the streets of Cassibile's center, with the start and finish line located in front of the Church of San Giuseppe in Piazza Don Antonio Saitta. The laps around the circuit make the race spectacular and easy for the public to follow along the entire route, between the village houses and the fields of the Cassibile plain.

Categories and daily schedule

Registration and bib collection take place in the early afternoon, from 1:30 PM to 2:30 PM, in front of the Church of San Giuseppe. The race is divided into two segments: first, the Over 45 category riders take to the track at 3:00 PM, followed by the Under 45 category. The event serves as the CSAIn Sicily Regional Championship, with the regional champion's jersey awarded to the various categories.

The CSAIn Sicily Coppa Ionica

The Cassibile stage is part of the 2026 Coppa Ionica, an integrated project by CSAIn Sicily that visits various municipalities on the island throughout the year with road and medium-distance races. The initiative aims to use cycle tourism as a lever for regional promotion, combining amateur competition with the discovery of the landscapes and villages of Ionian Sicily. Special attention is given to female participation: all registered women are welcomed as guests of honor at the event.

Cassibile and the Syracuse territory

Cassibile is a district of Syracuse known for its agricultural plain and its proximity to the Cavagrande del Cassibile Nature Reserve. Hosting a cycling race through its streets means bringing sport into the daily fabric of the community, with the collaboration of the Municipal Police for traffic management and the safety of athletes and spectators. For cycling enthusiasts in the province of Syracuse, the event represents a sporting celebration at the gates of summer.