Etappe 21 (Individuele tijdrit) - zondag 29 mei Vertrekpunt: Milano - Milano (ITT) Afstand: 32.8 km

MILANO
The Capital of business, fashion and design, always projecting the present into the future, Milano is also proud of its prestigious past. The fact can be ascertained just by walking around into the places of history and culture. Piazza Duomo, historical heart of the city, remains a place to turn back to again and again, attracted by the giant parvis and the fascinating perspectives. The number one church of the city is the best example of gothic floral architecture with rich ornaments, spires, sculptures, rampant arches and large leaded glass windows. Built according to the will of Duke Gian Galeazzo Visconti, the construction took more than 400 years, from 1386 to 1813, when the façade was completed upon a decision by Napoleon. Overlooking the same square, the Museo del Novecento, a Palace of the Arengario which opened recently, is a casket for extremely valuable objects, approximately four hundred, dedicated to the Italian art of the twentieth century. Among the great number of artists represented in the exhibit we can name Boccioni, Carrà, De Chirico, Sironi, Morandi, Fontana, Manzoni. Next to the Museum, the Palazzo Reale in a neo-classical style, formerly a symbol of the civil power and nowadays the seat of important exhibitions and cultural events. The Scala Theater, temple of lyric music and ballet, and nearby the Brera district full of nice restaurants, night clubs, antique shops, art galleries, and most of all the famous Pinacoteca, one of the most important museum in Europe housing masterpieces from the XV to the XVIII century. Design amateur should not miss the Bovisa Triennale exclusively dedicated to contemporary art, hosting important painting exhibits, sculptures, photographs and video installations. The Castello Sforzesco is near here and visitors come to admire, among so many jewels, the Michelangelo’s Pietà Rondanini  and the Sala delle Asse frescoed by Leonardo da Vinci. As far as the Ultima Cena (the “Last Supper”) (1495-98) is concerned, the masterpiece is to be seen in the Dominican Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, the ultimate example of art and architecture of the fifteenth century in Milano.