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Lidl-Trek is not winning over Italian fans at the Giro with its latest stunt

The American team has done the unthinkable in the lead-up to La Corsa Rosa

Lidl-Trek is not winning over Italian fans at the Giro d'Italia with its latest stunt
April 29, 2024
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Pineapple on pizza? Hold my birra, per favore. Lidl-Trek announces its team for the Giro d’Italia which begins on Saturday. It’s a strong team, consisting of Jonathan Milan, Andrea Bagioli, Simone Consonni, Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier, Daan Hoole, Juan Pedro López, Jasper Stuyven, and Edward Theuns.

But that’s not the problem. The problem is the squad announced the team in a very….problematic way, and clearly the entire country of Italy will soon be outraged. If you’ve ever read the comments section for a recipe online for spaghetti carbonara when someone decides to add cream, you’ll understand.

The incident

On Monday, Lidl-Trek posted a disturbing image. It was a photo of Alphabetti–or as we call it here in Canada, Alphaghetti, with all the riders’ names headed into il Bel Paese for the first Grand Tour of the year. Egads, the horror for the tifosi!

Alphabet pasta, known as alphabetti spaghetti in the UK, features pasta shaped into letters of the alphabet, commonly served in alphabet soup or with marinara sauce. Its origins are unclear, but it has been referenced in Parisian grocers as early as 1877 and appeared on menus in New York City in 1900.

Legend has it that a mishap in a pasta factory, producing a piece shaped like the letter C, sparked the creation of alphabet pasta. The earliest recorded mention dates back to 1867. According tithe US paper Raleigh Tri-Weekly Standard, soup manufacturers replaced traditional macaroni shapes with alphabet letters. Knorr is believed to have sold it in Europe as early as 1910 under various names. Despite Heinz discontinuing production in the UK in 1990, it made a comeback in 2005, aiming to promote literacy and combat obesity by encouraging children to spell out words while enjoying their meal.

When pasta is not pasta

Given that Kraft Dinner is not typically classified as pasta in Italy, it’s almost certain that the can of Heinz is probs not going to win over the tifosi. In Italy, pasta generally refers to traditional Italian pasta varieties made from durum wheat semolina, such as spaghetti, penne, or fusilli. Kraft Dinner is a processed product consisting of macaroni pasta and a cheese-flavored sauce mix, which is not part of the traditional Italian pasta repertoire.

The social media manager for the team clearly knew the brazenness of such a post. “We’ve cooked up something tasty for the Giro!” Was the first caption. Followed by, “We’ve probably upset all of Italy enough with the alphabetti spaghetti.”

The Giro begins Saturday and it’s unclear if the team’s star sprinter, Milan, approved of the post. But he will definitely be hunting stages and the points jersey. Hopefully he will have enough proper pasta to get him all the way to Rome. Forza ragazzi!