Industry News
You may have seen the legendary photo from the 15th stage of the Giro d’Italia, the famous Italian bike race. It’s a photo that will definitely find its place in the annals of cycling and skiing history. The photo depicts the leader and overall winner, Tadej Pogacar from Slovenia, in the pink jersey cycling through Livigno while two Italian freeskiers, siblings Flora (16) and Miro (19) Tabanelli, jump over the road. The image was captured by Dutch photographer Lèon van Bon.
“This [Livigno] is one of the most beautiful places in Italy. I have been there since I was a kid. I was thinking about this fraction since September”
— Tadej Pogacar
The jump had been prepared several days in advance and was carefully calculated and tested in the lead-up. “We never did it this well in practice,” Miro admitted afterward. The 19-year-old Freestyle skier is no novice – he competed at the X-Games in Aspen this season and debuted on the FIS World Cup circuit in December 2022 in Copper Mountain, Colorado. His younger sister Flora debuted last year at the Big Air in Chur, Switzerland. She also won the Junior World Championships in Big Air in Livigno in March this year and most notably the Slopestyle as well as the Big Air event at the Youth Olympics in Gangwon, Korea, this year.
The jump during the Giro d’Italia was part of a promotion of the ski resort Livigno, which will host the Freestyle events of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan. Livigno is located at an altitude of 1,816 meters (5,958 feet) in a valley near the Swiss border and used to be cut off during the winter months from civilization. Later, a pass road and tunnel were built to connect the village to Switzerland on the tunnel side and the Passo di Foscagno Bormio, Italy, side. The isolated location awarded the town a special duty-free status by Napoleon, who saw the strategic importance of the remote mountain town and sought to keep it inhabited throughout the year. The duty-free ee status has been upheld for more than 200 years. Aside from duty-free shopping, the ski resort offers over 100 km (62 miles) of ski runs serviced by 30 modern lifts and a fantastic après scene.
