Tittia Wins Palio dell'Assunta 2026 for Nicchio After Two Rain Delays

On Monday, August 18, 2026, jockey Giovanni Atzeni — known across Italy as Tittia — rode Anda e Bola to victory in the Palio dell’Assunta in Siena, delivering the Contrada del Nicchio its first win in 28 years. The bareback race around Piazza del Campo had been postponed twice by rain from its traditional August 16 date, and only got underway after more than an hour of tense positioning at the start line. It was Tittia’s 13th career Palio win — and his second of 2026 after triumphing for the Aquila on July 2.

Editor’s note: This article draws on race reporting from ANSA, Sky TG24, Corriere di Siena, and La Milano coverage, August 16–18, 2026.

Race at a glance

Detail	Information
Event	Palio dell’Assunta 2026 (August edition)
Date run	August 18, 2026 (postponed from August 16)
Venue	Piazza del Campo, Siena, Tuscany
Winner	Contrada del Nicchio — jockey Giovanni Atzeni (Tittia), horse Anda e Bola
Tittia’s career Palio wins	13 (active record; one behind Andrea Degortes “Aceto” with 14)
Nicchio’s last win	August 16, 1998
Nicchio’s total Palio wins	43
Weather delays	2 consecutive postponements (first double delay in 50 years)
Start procedure	3 false starts, 5 exits from the ropes, mossa lasting over 1 hour

Two rain delays and a marathon start

The Palio dell’Assunta is traditionally run on August 16, the Feast of the Assumption. In 2026, organizers displayed the green postponement flag under the windows of the Palazzo Pubblico on both Sunday, August 16, and Monday, August 17, as rain left the tuff track in Piazza del Campo unsafe for horses.

The race was rescheduled for Tuesday, August 18 — the first time Siena had endured a two-day postponement since 1976, when the Civetta contrada won with legendary jockey Aceto on Panezio. An even rarer historical footnote: in 1907, the Assunta Palio ran on August 16 and an extraordinary second race was held on August 18.

When the ten contrade finally lined up on the 18th, the mossa — the choreographed start procedure — became its own drama. Rival neighborhoods Lupa and Istrice, and Oca and Torre, clashed repeatedly at the ropes. Officials recorded three false starts and five exits from the canapi before the field was released. The procedure alone lasted more than an hour.

Nicchio ends a 28-year drought

For the Nicchio — the seashell contrada based around via dei Pispini — the victory ended one of the longest active droughts in the city. The neighborhood had not won since August 16, 1998, and after the Aquila won on July 3, Nicchio briefly held the unenviable title of nonna contrada — the district that had gone longest without a victory.

That “cuffia” now passes to the Chiocciola (Snail), which has not won since August 16, 1999. Only once before, in 1794, had two contrade shed the nonna status in the same calendar year.

Once the race began, Nicchio’s run was commanding. Tittia and Anda e Bola led from the start through all three laps of the square without serious challenge from any rival contrada — a wire-to-wire performance on the slippery, rain-delayed track.

Tittia’s 13th victory — and a chase for history

At 41, Tittia confirmed his status as the most successful active Palio jockey. Born in Nagold, Germany, on April 13, 1985, to a Sardinian father and German mother, he debuted at the Palio in July 2003 with Nicchio — the same contrada he carried to glory on August 18.

His 13th win equals the career totals of Luigi Bruschelli (Trecciolino) and Angelo Meloni (Picino), and leaves him one victory shy of Andrea Degortes (Aceto), whose 14 wins remain the all-time record. Tittia had already won the July 2 Palio for Aquila aboard Diodoro, making 2026 a rare year with two victories for the same rider.

Anda e Bola, a 10-year-old bay stallion, delivered a second Palio title — the horse had won the previous August edition for Valdimontone, also with Tittia in the saddle. Nicchio captain Fabio Giustarini, who had helped launch Tittia’s Palio career, called the pairing a natural fit when the contrada drew one of the top three horses at the tratta lottery.

Scary fall after the finish line

Celebration turned to alarm moments after the win. As contradaioli flooded the track, Tittia and Anda e Bola collided with a person in the packed campo. Both horse and rider went down in the chaos of the post-race invasion.

Medical staff transported Tittia by ambulance to Santa Maria alle Scotte hospital for checks. Doctors said he was conscious and that his condition did not cause serious concern. Veterinarians examined Anda e Bola on site and declared the horse unharmed.

The scare did not diminish the street celebrations in Nicchio’s quarter, where residents had waited nearly three decades for the painted drappellone banner.

Who raced on August 18

Ten of Siena’s 17 contrade competed for the silk prize painted by artist Teodora Axente:

Contrada	Jockey (nickname)	Horse
Aquila (Eagle)	Carlo Sanna (Brigante)	Benitos
Chiocciola (Snail)	Jonatan Bartoletti (Scompiglio)	Arestetulesu
Giraffa (Giraffe)	Elias Mannucci (Turbine)	Euskaldi
Istrice (Porcupine)	Federico Guglielmi (Tamurè)	Ares Elce
Lupa (She-Wolf)	Dino Pes (Velluto)	Diodoro
Nicchio (Seashell)	Giovanni Atzeni (Tittia)	Anda e Bola
Oca (Goose)	Michel Putzu (Spago)	Diamante Sauro
Onda (Wave)	Andrea Sanna (Virgola)	Viso d’Angelo
Selva (Forest)	Sebastiano Murtas (Grandine)	Canarinu
Torre (Tower)	Giuseppe Zedde (Gingillo)	Donrodrigo

Notable pairings included Diodoro — Tittia’s July mount — now racing for the Lupa, and Viso d’Angelo carrying 12-year-old jockey Andrea Sanna (Virgola) for Onda.

What the Palio means in Siena

The Palio dates to documented races in the 13th century and remains one of Italy’s most intense neighborhood rivalries. Each contrada maintains its own church, museum, and identity symbol. Only ten districts run in any given edition: seven enter by right and three are drawn by lot.

Jockeys ride bareback for three laps of the herringbone-paved square — roughly 90 seconds of racing after days of pageantry. The only formal rule forbids grabbing another rider’s reins; whipping a rival’s horse or unseating a jockey is permitted. A horse can even win scosso — without its rider — if it crosses the line first.

For Nicchio, August 18 closed a chapter that had stretched across generations of contradaioli. For Tittia, it opened a new one: a live shot at Aceto’s record of 14, with the July and August wins of 2026 already etched into Sienese history.

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Discussion

1. Tittia now has 13 Palio wins and could chase Aceto’s record of 14. Does a second victory in the same calendar year — for two different contrade — make him the greatest jockey of the modern Palio era?

He won July for Aquila on Diodoro and August for Nicchio on Anda e Bola. Is versatility across horses and neighborhoods the mark of greatness, or does loyalty to a single contrada matter more in Siena?

2. The race was delayed twice by rain and the start line drama lasted over an hour. How much of a Palio victory is the horse race itself versus the strategy, alliances, and mossa battles that precede it?

Nicchio’s win looked dominant once the field was released, but the day was defined as much by weather and positioning as by the 90-second sprint.

Share your view on whether Tittia’s 2026 double — and Nicchio’s 28-year wait — will be remembered as the story of the year in Siena.

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