The Cycling Podcast

53: Kilometre 0 – The Miracle of Castel di Sangro

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Episode notes

In our third episode of Kilometre 0 from the Giro d'Italia we revisit a classic sports book, The Miracle of Castel di Sangro. 

Stage 9 of the Giro will roll out of a small town in the Abruzzo mountains: the scene in 1996 of the "miracle" of Castel di Sangro winning promotion to Italy's second top division, Serie B.

When he read about this unlikely story, Joe McGinniss, a  celebrated American writer, decided to go and live in Castel di Sangro to document life in Serie B. 

Little could McGinniss have known the tumult, drama and tragedy he would witness. And little could Castel di Sangro have known how involved the American writer would become in the town and its football club.

McGinniss died in 2014 but in this episode we hear from his widow, Nancy Doherty. 

Kilometre 0 by The Cycling Podcast is supported by Supersapiens