Sunday's stage starts in
Nicelino, which is a city within the metropolitan area of Turin. It grew from a small town to its present 50,000+ thanks to becoming a dormitory for workers who commute to the FIAT factory. It does have a coat of arms, but the only example of it I could find was so small that I would be risking our eyesight by using it. Instead, here are the arms of the province of Torino, which were historically the arms of the Prince of Piedmont, first son of the King of Savoy. Hence the arms are Savoy with a label of three points.
The route heads South for a while before settling on a North-Easterly direction through the valley of the River Po.The mountain specialists will have to wait for their chances to shine.
The riders pass through
Tricerro, whose arms are canting. "Cerro" is the Italian name for the Turkey or Austrian oak (Quercus Cerris).
Blazon: D’argento, al cerro al naturale, sradicato di tre rami, fogliati di verde e disposti a ventaglio, asccompagnato in punta dalla scritta centrata di nero: TRIBVS CERRI.
"Tribus Cerri" is Latin for "Tribe of the Cerro". Whether there was such a tribe before the Romans conquered the Ligurians I cannot say. There does however seem to be a canting pun in the words. "Tribus" to the Romans originally meant one third of the Roman population. "Tri-cerro" and the topiary of the tree into three branches suggests a very conscious effort to milk the pun for all its worth.
The next city on the route is
Vercelli whose arms might equally be those of England, if England had a coat of arms. They were granted as recently as 1929, but must have been in use informally long before that.
Blazon: D’argento alla croce di rosso.
The finishing line is at
Novara, whose arms, granted in 1928 are the undifferenced arms of Savoy. How this came about is a mystery. Novara was important to Savoy but not its origin.
Novara was the site of a major battle in 1513 when the Swiss overwhelmed a French army and drove them out of Italy. It was also the site of the Battle of Bicocca in 1849 when the Austrians under General Radetzky (he of the march) defeated a Sardinian army (Savoy had become part of the Kingdom of Sardinia).