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92-491: The first edition was held in 1905. Since its creation, the Giro di Lombardia has been the classic with the fewest interruptions in cycling; only the editions of 1943 and 1944 were cancelled for reasons of war. Italian Fausto Coppi won a record five times. Because of its demanding course, the race is considered a climbers classic , favouring climbers with strong descending skills and a strong sprint finish. The Tour of Lombardy

184-519: A World Tour race, and the Tour of Lombardy was the one remaining major Classic in autumn, the only Monument in the latter part of the year. Damiano Cunego imposed himself as the Lord of Lombardy with three victories. In 2006 , the race celebrated its 100th edition, won by Paolo Bettini , one week after becoming world champion. The edition was particularly emotional because Bettini's brother had died in

276-459: A cerebral haemorrhage . Coppi could never match his old successes. Pierre Chany said he was first to be dropped each day in the Vuelta a España in 1959. Criterium organisers frequently cut their races to 45 km to be certain that Coppi could finish, he said. "Physically, he wouldn't have been able to ride even 10km further. He charged himself [took drugs] before every race". Coppi, said Chany,

368-730: A "holy grail" in Italian cycling, dubbed by Italian press as La Doppietta (The Double). Seven riders have achieved this feat, on ten occasions. Fausto Coppi did it three consecutive times, Eddy Merckx is the last rider as yet. Even rarer is the combination of winning all three of Italy 's great cycling races, Milan–San Remo, the Tour of Lombardy and the Giro d'Italia in one year. This Italian Treble happened twice: Fausto Coppi One-day races and Classics Other Angelo Fausto Coppi ( Italian pronunciation: [ˈfausto ˈkɔppi] ; 15 September 1919 – 2 January 1960)

460-596: A POW camp in Naples to work as a driver for the Royal Air Force . The British moved Coppi to an RAF base at Caserta in Italy, based in the city's royal palace , in 1945. There he worked as a truck driver and as a personal assistant and handyman for an officer, Lieutenant Ronald Smith Towell, who had never heard of him. Despite this, the two struck up a mutually beneficial relationship: Coppi's popularity in Italy

552-454: A bicycle ... Bartali prays while he is pedalling: the rational Cartesian and sceptical Coppi is filled with doubts, believes only in his body, his motor". Their lives came together on 7 January 1940 when Eberardo Pavesi, head of the Legnano team, took on Coppi to ride in support of Bartali. Their rivalry started when Coppi, the helping hand, won the Giro and Bartali, the star, marshalled

644-472: A car accident just five days before the race, and the Italian was overcome with emotion when he crossed the finish line. Bettini is one of seven riders to win the Tour of Lombardy after becoming world champion earlier the same year. The other six are Alfredo Binda , Tom Simpson , Eddy Merckx , Felice Gimondi , Giuseppe Saronni and Oscar Camenzind . Since 2012 both the World Championship and

736-460: A cellar, rusty and without brake blocks. He left school at age 13 to work for Domenico Merlani, a butcher in Novi Ligure more widely known as Signor Ettore. Cycling to and from the shop and meeting cyclists who came there interested him in racing. The money to buy a bike came from his uncle, also called Fausto Coppi, and his father. Coppi said: "... [My uncle] was a merchant navy officer on

828-426: A conversation with him, but he didn't speak English and I don't speak Italian. But we managed one or two words and I got over to him that I did some club racing. And I gave him a bar of chocolate that I had with me and he was grateful for that and that was the end of it". In April 1944, Coppi fell ill with malaria, however this was quickly diagnosed and treated. In November of that year he returned to Italy, arriving at

920-464: A frame built to my measurements in Genoa . Out of my slender savings I took enough for the train fare to Genoa and back, gave my measurements, and handed over the 600 lire. I would have to buy the fittings and tyres from my errand-boy salary. Oh how my legs used to ache at night through climbing all those stairs during the day! But I'm glad I did, because it surely made my legs so strong". "Come back within

1012-603: A mountainous lake-side finish, just 6 km from the top of the last climb. The route usually has some changes every year, sometimes a complete restyling, only to be altered again the next edition. From 1984 to 1989 the finish returned to Milan and in 1990 to its suburb Monza , inviting attackers for long-distance breakaways. From 1995 to 2003 the finish was in Bergamo , with the Colle del Gallo (Col Gàl in Bergamasque ) as

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1104-471: A museum containing religious and cycling-related objects. Originally the Tour of Lombardy was raced from Milan to Milan, and like many cycling classics, climbs were gradually introduced to the course, in a bid to make the race more demanding. In 1961, the finish was moved to Como and the character of the race changed fundamentally. The long and flat run-in to the finish in Milan was abandoned; in its place came

1196-418: A petrol tanker, and a real cycling fan. He was touched when he heard of my passion for the bike and decided that I deserved a real tool for the job on which I had set my heart, instead of the rusty old crock I was pushing around. I just cried with joy when my kind uncle gave me the 600 lire that were to make my dream come true. I knew from advertisements I had seen in the local papers that for 600 lire I could get

1288-495: A poetic epithet, has also coined the phrase The Romantic Classic to denote the race. An overview of climbs featured in the Giro di Lombardia. As the course changes every year, not all climbs are included in the same edition. The Trittico di Autunno (Autumn Triptych ) is an unofficial trio of cycling classics held in the Lombardy and Piedmont regions of Northern Italy , in early October. Three one-day races, Milano–Torino,

1380-458: A rich history, dating back more than a century. Milan-Turin , with its first running in 1876, is the oldest classic in the world, three decades older than the Tour of Lombardy. Until 1986, and again from 2005 to 2007, Milan-Turin was organized in the spring. Since 1987 the three races are held as an "Autumn Trio", initially mid-October and since 2012 two weeks earlier. Both Milan-Turin and the Giro del Piemonte have suffered some continuity problems in

1472-485: A similar palmarès since the 1960s, but are different in character. The hills in Lombardy are usually longer than those in the Belgian Ardennes and are more spread out over the course. Liège–Bastogne–Liège has 12 categorized climbs, usually shorter and steeper, coming in faster succession than in the Tour of Lombardy, and has an uphill-finish. Because of its position in autumn as one of the last classics of

1564-402: A solo chase to rejoin the peloton. The following week he broke his collarbone in a crash before he was due to defend his national pursuit championship in the final against Cino Cinelli : however, Cinelli refused to accept the title by default, and the final was delayed to October, which Coppi won. Shortly afterwards he made his successful bid for the hour record at Vigorelli Velodrome: the roof of

1656-542: A son, Faustino. In December 1959, the president of the Republic of Upper Volta (now known as Burkina Faso ), Maurice Yaméogo , invited Coppi, Raphaël Géminiani , Jacques Anquetil , Louison Bobet , Roger Hassenforder and Henry Anglade to ride against local riders and then go hunting. Géminiani remembered: "I slept in the same room as Coppi in a house infested by mosquitos. I'd got used to them but Coppi hadn't. Well, when I say we 'slept', that's an overstatement. It

1748-473: A strong sprint finish and even Grand Tour specialists. Time trial specialist Tony Rominger won the Tour of Lombardy twice in the 1990s and Tour de France winner Vincenzo Nibali won the 2015 edition after a downhill attack on the penultimate descent. The race is often compared to Liège–Bastogne–Liège , the monument race in Belgium earlier in the year. Both classics have a similar hilly course and show

1840-449: A week; your frame will be ready" said the owner of the cycle shop". "But it wasn't ready, and not the next week, and not the next. For eight weeks I threw precious money away taking the train to Genoa and still no made-to-measure bike for me. The fellow just couldn't be bothered making a frame for a skinny country kid who didn't look as if he could pedal a fairy-cycle, let alone a racing bike. I used to cry bitterly as I went back home without

1932-610: A while to find out who she was. She and Coppi moved in together but so great was the scandal that the landlord of their apartment in Tortona demanded they move out. Reporters pursued them to a hotel in Castelletto d'Orba and again they moved, buying the Villa Carla, a house near Novi Ligure. There police raided them at night to see if they were sharing a bed. Pope Pius XII asked Coppi to return to his wife. He refused to bless

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2024-552: A world hour record (45.798 km at the Velodromo Vigorelli in Milan ). He rode a 7.40-metre (291-inch) gear and pedalled with an average cadence of 103.3 rpm. The bike is on display in the chapel of Madonna del Ghisallo near Como , Italy. Coppi beat Maurice Archambaud 's 45.767 km, set five years earlier on the same track. The record stood until it was beaten by Jacques Anquetil in 1956. His career

2116-531: Is Angelo who told me that Coppi had been killed. I was a supporter of Coppi, and you can imagine my state when he told me that Coppi had been poisoned in Fada Gourma, at the time of a reception organised by the head of the village. Angelo also told me that [Raphael] Géminiani was also present... Fausto's plate fell, they replaced it, and then..." The story has also been attributed to a 75-year-old Benedictine monk called Brother Adrien. He told Mino Caudullo of

2208-568: The Giro del Piemonte (Tour of Piedmont) and the Tour of Lombardy, are held within a four-day timeframe in the week following the World Championship . Milan-Turin is held on the Thursday after the World Championship, the Giro del Piemonte on Friday and the Tour of Lombardy is the closing race on Sunday. The Tour of Lombardy is the pinnacle, the hardest and unequivocally most important race of this unofficial trio. All three races have

2300-467: The Giro di Lombardia a record five times (1946, 1947, 1948, 1949 and 1954). He won Milan–San Remo three times (1946, 1948 and 1949). In the 1946 Milan–San Remo he attacked with nine others, five kilometres into a race of 292 km. He dropped the rest on the Turchino climb and won by 14 minutes. He also won Paris–Roubaix and La Flèche Wallonne (1950). He was also 1953 world road champion . In

2392-565: The Italian National Olympic Committee : "Coppi was killed with a potion mixed with grass. Here in Burkina Faso this awful phenomenon happens. People are still being killed like that". Coppi's doctor, Ettore Allegri, dismissed the story as "absolute drivel". A court in Tortona opened an investigation and asked toxicologists about exhuming Coppi's body to look for poison. A year later, without exhumation ,

2484-561: The Madonna del Ghisallo , one of the iconic sanctuaries in cycling. The climb starts near Bellagio at the shore of the Como Lake, and heads up until the church of Madonna del Ghisallo (754 m), the patroness of cyclists. Over the years, it has become indelibly linked with the race and with cycling in general. It was the favourite climb of cycling greatnesses Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali, who immortalized it. The church also serves as

2576-495: The San Fermo della Battaglia and won the race. In 2012 Gilbert crashed on a wet descent. When the weather conditions are good, teams are able to control the race more easily and decisive attacks come later in the race. On sunny days, the leaves on the trees typically blaze a golden trail around Lombardy, and TV coverage displays extensive aerial footage of the scenery around the Como Lake. The Italian press, never shy to introduce

2668-565: The World Championship in 1953 . Other notable results include winning the Giro di Lombardia five times, the Milan–San Remo three times, as well as wins at Paris–Roubaix and La Flèche Wallonne and setting the hour record (45.798 km) in 1942. Coppi was born in Castellania (now known as Castellania Coppi), near Alessandria , one of five children born to Domenico Coppi and Angiolina Boveri, who married on 29 July 1914. Fausto

2760-613: The rainbow jersey in races of that category (either mass start or time trial) until the next championships. It currently includes the following championships: Former events: The first world championships took place in 1921, though the only event that was contested was the men's road race for amateurs . The first professional world championship took place in July 1927 at the Nürburgring in Germany where Italian Alfredo Binda won

2852-671: The Civiglio after the Ghisallo. In 2011 the route was fully renewed, with a first-time finish in Lecco . The Sormano was included again, but was climbed before the Ghisallo. After the Ghisallo, a flat stretch led to the final climb of the race: the steep Villa Vergano in Galbiate . After the descent only 3 km remained until the finish in Lecco. The 3,4 km climb of Villa Vergano was

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2944-675: The Fascist regime. On release he cycled and hitched lifts home. On Sunday 8 July 1945 he won the Circuit of the Aces in Milan after four years away from racing. The following season he won Milan–San Remo. Coppi's beloved, "The Woman in White" was Giulia Occhini , described by the French broadcaster Jean-Paul Ollivier as "strikingly beautiful with thick chestnut hair divided into enormous plaits". She

3036-445: The Giro d'Italia when Coppi rode it. The Pope then went through the Italian cycling federation. Its president, Bartolo Paschetta, wrote on 8 July 1954: "Dear Fausto, yesterday evening St. Peter made it known to me that the news [of adultery] had caused him great pain". Bruna Ciampolini refused a divorce. To end a marriage was shameful and still illegal in the country. Coppi was shunned and spectators spat at him. He and Giulia Occhini had

3128-495: The Giro di Lombardia have a new, earlier date on the calendar at the end of September, and the name officially became Il Lombardia . It was the beginning of a remarkable revival for the Monument race. The Tour of Lombardy is now the classic par excellence for riders to take revenge for the world championship or to achieve an " Autumn Double win". In recent years Philippe Gilbert , Joaquim Rodríguez and Vincenzo Nibali all won

3220-516: The Giro five times, a record shared with Alfredo Binda and Eddy Merckx. During the 1949 Giro he left Gino Bartali by 11 minutes between Cuneo and Pinerolo . Coppi won the 1949 Tour de France by almost half an hour over everyone except Bartali. From the start of the mountains in the Pyrenees to their end in the Alps , Coppi took back the 55 minutes by which Jacques Marinelli led him. Coppi won

3312-423: The Italian daily sports paper, published a Coppi supplement. The editor wrote that he prayed that God would soon send another Coppi. Coppi was an atheist. In January 2002 a man identified only as Giovanni, who lived in Burkina Faso until 1964, said Coppi died not of malaria but of an overdose of cocaine. The newspaper Corriere dello Sport said Giovanni had his information from Angelo Bonazzi. Giovanni said: "It

3404-469: The Tour in the 1990s. He was given odd jobs to do. The British cyclist Len Levesley said he was astonished to find Coppi giving him a haircut. Levesley, who was on a stretcher with polio , said: "I should think it took me all of a full second to realise who it was. He looked fine, he looked slim, and having been in the desert, he looked tanned. I'd only seen him in cycling magazines but I knew instantly who he was. So he cut away at my hair and I tried to have

3496-425: The Tour of Tuscany that April with the advice: "Follow Gino Bartali !" He was forced to stop with a broken wheel. But at Varzi on 7 May 1939 he won one of the races counting to the season-long national independent championship. He finished seven minutes clear of the field and won his next race by six minutes. His first major success was in 1940, winning the Giro d'Italia at the age of 20. On 7 November 1942 he set

3588-531: The Tour of Lombardy is called the Autumn Classic and considered a climbers race. In total, 21 riders have won both races at least once in their career. Following Paolo Bettini , the most recent one to do this was Vincenzo Nibali who won the Primavera in 2018 and the Tour of Lombardy in 2015 and 2017 . Winning Milan–San Remo and the Tour of Lombardy in the same year is considered as something of

3680-424: The Tour of Lombardy was moved from Milan to Como and the identity of the race changed fundamentally. The previous flat finale towards the finish in Milan was replaced with a spectacular finish by Lake Como , just 6 km after the top of the last climb. Despite an occasional return to finishing in Milan, the race had developed a new personality, defined by a series of arduous climbs amid a mountainous scenery. Over

3772-497: The annual world championships for bicycle road racing organized by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). The UCI Road World Championships consist of events for road race and individual time trial , and as of 2019 , a mixed team relay . All the world championship events are ridden by national teams, not trade teams such as in most other major races. The winner of each category is entitled to wear

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3864-402: The back. The two did not get on and as her car passed, Magni saw her sneer at him. Infuriated, Magni set out in an improbable solo pursuit of the breakaway and caught the leaders in the final kilometres. He and Coppi openly argued and André Darrigade , sensing their indecisiveness, attacked to claim the victory, thereby relegating Coppi and Magni to second and third place. In 1961, the finish of

3956-660: The building still had large holes after Milan had been heavily bombed a few weeks earlier. However, in March 1943 Coppi was sent to North Africa to participate in the Tunisian campaign , fighting against British forces. According to Coppi's identification paper, he was captured on 13 May 1943 in Enfidha , 100 km south of Tunis , although he may have been caught the previous month by the British Eighth Army which

4048-557: The butcher's shop. He won alone, winning an alarm clock. A regular caller at the butcher's shop in Novi Ligure was a former boxer who had become a masseur , a job he could do after losing his sight, in 1938. Giuseppe Cavanna was known to friends as Biagio. Coppi met him that year, recommended by another of Cavanna's riders. Cavanna suggested in 1939 that Coppi should become an independent, a class of semi-professionals who could ride against both amateurs and professionals. He sent Coppi to

4140-480: The case was dismissed. The Giro remembers Coppi as it goes through the mountain stages. A mountain bonus, called the Cima Coppi , is awarded to the first rider who reaches the Giro's highest summit. In 1999, Coppi placed second in balloting for greatest Italian athlete of the 20th century. Coppi's life story was depicted in the 1995 TV movie, Il Grande Fausto , written and directed by Alberto Sironi . Coppi

4232-405: The decisive site in the 2011 and 2012 edition. In 2014 the finish was moved to Bergamo. Organizer RCS announced that from 2014 to 2017 the finish of the Tour of Lombardy will alternate between Bergamo and Como. The Giro di Lombardia is considered a climbers classic and one of the most arduous races of the season, because of its distance (ca. 255 km) and several famous climbs. Nowadays

4324-449: The finish in Milan. Gino Bartali was the king of the podium with 9 top-3 finishes (3 wins, 4 second places and 2 third places). The race of 1956 was a particularly fascinating battle. At 60 km from the finish a breakaway was formed with Fausto Coppi , seeking his sixth victory. Italian rider Fiorenzo Magni had missed the break, and as he fell further behind, a car passed him with Giulia Occhini , Coppi's infamous mistress, sitting in

4416-521: The first years of his career, Coppi was unable to ride the Tour de France. When he turned professional in 1940, the Tour de France was not held because of the Second World War. The Tour restarted in 1947, but Italians were not welcome yet. In 1948, Italians were welcome, but Coppi was suspended by the Italian cycling union because he had abandoned the 1948 Giro d'Italia in protest against the small penalty given to Fiorenzo Magni . In 1949, Coppi

4508-428: The frame. On the ninth journey I took a frame home. But it wasn't a 'made to measure'. The chap just took one down off the rack. I was furious inside, but too shy to do anything about it". Coppi rode his first race at age 15, among other boys not attached to cycling clubs, and won first prize: 20 lire and a salami sandwich. Coppi took a racing licence at the start of 1938 and won his first race, at Castelleto d'Orba, near

4600-535: The last climb of the day. The Colle del Gallo, with its sanctuary of the Madonna dei ciclisti at the top, often proved to be decisive. In 2004, after twenty years, the finish returned to the lakefront in Como, with the short but steep San Fermo della Battaglia climb just before the arrival. The 2010 edition saw the re-introduction of the Muro di Sormano , a spectacular climb with a maximum gradient of 27%, which replaced

4692-584: The latter part of course is usually held on a circuit, of which the riders complete multiple laps. The world championship road race and two of the three Grand Tours (namely the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France ) form the Triple Crown of Cycling . Note: Not held from 1939 to 1945 because of World War II . Medal table includes only medals achieved in senior events . Mixed nation team events such as

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4784-442: The men's team time trial. In 2012, the men's team time trial was reinstated, and a women's team time trial added to the program; both were contested by trade teams. In 2019, the team time trial events for men and women were replaced by a mixed relay team time trial. Until 1995, there were separate races for male professional and amateur riders. In 1996, the amateur category was replaced with a category for men under-23 years old, with

4876-707: The pair shared a bottle on the Col d'Izoard in the 1952 Tour but the two fell out over who had offered it. "I did", Bartali insisted. "He never gave me anything". Their rivalry was the subject of intense coverage and resulted in epic races. Coppi joined the Italian Army when Italy entered World War II : the declaration of war on the Allied Powers was made on the day after the finish of the 1940 Giro d'Italia. Officers initially supported him continuing his riding career: track cycling and one-day racing continued during

4968-480: The past, but are on back on the calendar of 2015. For many, particularly Italian riders, Milan-Turin and the Giro del Piemonte (both 200-km races) are the ultimate races to prepare for the Tour of Lombardy. The Tour of Lombardy is one of five Monuments in cycling, one of two Italian Monuments together with Milan–San Remo . Milan–San Remo is called the Spring Classic and considered a sprinters race, whereas

5060-509: The professional category becoming an open (later elite) category. Since 1995 until 2022, the event has been held towards the end of the European season in late September, usually following the Vuelta a España . Before that, the event had always been a summer race, held in late August or the first week of September (except for 1970, when it was a mid-season summer event). An exception to this

5152-464: The professional men's race and Belgian Jean Aerts won the men's amateur race. The women's road race was introduced in 1958. A men's team time trial, contested by national teams, was introduced in 1962. Beginning in 1972, the team time trial was discontinued in Olympic years only. Individual time trials in all categories were added in 1994, which was also the last year for the original incarnation of

5244-417: The race three times. From the 1930s to the 1950s, Alfredo Binda , Gino Bartali and Fausto Coppi , icons of Italian cycling, were the main protagonists and immortalized the race with their exploits. Coppi won the race 5 times (of which 4 consecutive wins) and Binda 4 times. Coppi finished solo on every win, following a successful strategy of attacking on the Madonna del Ghisallo and maintaining his lead to

5336-573: The race to be the winner of the 1997 World Cup. For 30 km he did solo work in a four-man breakaway, so sacrificing his chances to win the sprint. The edition was won by Frenchman Laurent Jalabert , Bartoli finished fourth and won the World Cup. The race had become the most important Autumn Classic together with Paris–Tours in France, which was mainly won by sprinters or escapees. By the early 21st century however, Paris–Tours lost its status as

5428-400: The race twice. Like most of cycling's classics, the route has developed over the years, and the Tour of Lombardy has undergone more changes than any other cycling monument . Since the 1960s it has been notable for its hilly and varied course around Lake Como , to the northeast of Milan , with a flat finish in one of the cities on the shores of the lake. Its signature symbol is the climb of

5520-423: The race, inducing Merckx to make his team work in pursuit. De Vlaeminck, not really intending to go solo, stopped and hid behind a bush to let the peloton pass. He rode back to the front of the peloton and jokingly asked a baffled Merckx whom they were chasing. De Vlaeminck won the race ahead of Merckx. For nearly 70 years the race was called "il Mondiale d'Autunno" in Italy ("the World Championship of Autumn"), as

5612-584: The real World Championship was held at the end of summer. It lost this particular role in 1995 when the UCI revolutionized the international cycling calendar and moved the World Championship from August to October, one week before the Giro di Lombardia. From 1988 to 2004 the Tour of Lombardy was the final leg of the UCI Road World Cup and was often the decisive race in that competition. In 1997 Michele Bartoli needed to finish ahead of Rolf Sørensen in

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5704-458: The road behind me". He rode like "a Martian on a bicycle", said Raphaël Géminiani. "He asked my advice about the gears to use, I was in the French team and he in the Italian, but he was a friend and normally my captain in our everyday team, so I could hardly refuse him. I saw a phenomenal rider that day". Coppi won the Tour by 28m 27s and the organiser, Jacques Goddet , had to double the prizes for lower placings to keep other riders interested. It

5796-426: The route usually features five or six significant climbs. The best-known of them is the Madonna del Ghisallo , one of the few fixed locations of the race. The climb is 10,6 kilometres long, with an average gradient of 5.2% and stretches of over 10%. Because the race usually has a downhill or flat run-in to the finish, the main contenders are riders with a broad range of skills. As such, the course favours climbers with

5888-477: The team to chase. By the 1948 world championship at Valkenburg, Limburg in the Netherlands, both climbed off rather than help the other. The Italian cycling association said: "They have forgotten to honour the Italian prestige they represent. Thinking only of their personal rivalry, they abandoned the race, to the approbation of all sportsmen". They were suspended for three months. The thaw partly broke when

5980-415: The time gap to the man in second place, you didn't need a Swiss stopwatch. The bell of the church clock tower would do the job just as well. Paris–Roubaix? Milan–San Remo? Lombardy? We're talking 10 minutes to a quarter of an hour. That's how Fausto Coppi was. "This mercurial beginner [Fausto Coppi] joined Bartali's team in 1940, and then won the Giro d'ltalia with a massive lead over his team leader. Bartali

6072-458: The two spent more and more time together. Italy was a straight-laced country in which adultery was thought of poorly. In 1954, Luigi Boccaccini of La Stampa saw her waiting for Coppi at the end of a race in St-Moritz . She and Coppi hugged and La Stampa printed a picture in which she was described as la dama in bianco di Fausto Coppi —the "woman in white of Fausto Coppi". It took only

6164-433: The very embodiment of pure will. In 1955 Coppi and his lover Giulia Occhini were put on trial for adultery, then illegal in Italy, and got suspended sentences. The scandal rocked conservative ultra-Catholic Italy and Coppi was disgraced. Coppi's career declined after the scandal. He had already been hit in 1951 by the death of his younger brother, Serse Coppi , who crashed in a sprint in the Giro del Piemonte and died of

6256-462: The victory of Giovanni Gerbi , at the time one of the stars of cycling. Gerbi won the race 40 minutes ahead of Giovanni Rossignoli and Luigi Ganna . The race soon became a fixture as the closing race of the Italian and European cycling season. It was renamed Giro di Lombardia in 1907. After the pioneering years, the race was dominated alternately by Frenchman Henri Pélissier and local heroes Gaetano Belloni and Costante Girardengo , all winning

6348-423: The war, and Coppi continued to enjoy success, winning the Giro di Toscana , the Giro dell'Emilia and Tre Valli Varesine on the road in 1941, along with the Italian national pursuit title on the track. He struggled at the beginning of the following year following the death of his father, but became national road champion after suffering a puncture and losing one and a half minutes to the bunch, forcing him into

6440-508: The waste bin and the bedside table, go through the bottles, flasks, phials, tubes, cartons, boxes, suppositories – I swept up everything. I became so expert in interpreting all these pharmaceuticals that I could predict how Fausto would behave during the course of the stage. I would work out, according to the traces of the product I found, how and when he would attack me". Gino Bartali, Miroir des Sports, 1946, UCI Road World Championships The UCI Road World Championships are

6532-507: The world hour record, the world championships, the grands tours , classics as well as time trials. The great French cycling journalist, Pierre Chany says that between 1946 and 1954, once Coppi had broken away from the peloton, the peloton never saw him again. Can this be said of any other racer? Informed observers who saw both ride agree that Coppi was the more elegant rider who won by dint of his physical gifts as opposed to Merckx who drove himself and hammered his competition relentlessly by being

6624-602: The year, the race is commonly nicknamed the Race of the Falling Leaves . Consequently, the weather repeatedly plays a decisive role in the nature of the race. In bad weather - common to mountainous Lombardy - the race is often a grueling contest where the strongest riders attack well ahead of the finish. The editions of 2006 , 2010 , and 2012 were exceptionally rainy. In 2010 Philippe Gilbert and Michele Scarponi attacked with 40 km to go; Gilbert distanced Scarponi on

6716-532: The years the race has been dominated mainly by Italian riders. Frenchman Henri Pelissier and Ireland's Sean Kelly were the only non-Italian riders to win the race three times. Cycling legend Eddy Merckx won three consecutive victories from 1971 to 1973, but his last win was stripped after a positive doping test and awarded to second-place finisher Felice Gimondi . The race of 1974 gave birth to another memorable anecdote. Eddy Merckx wanted to get his revenge, but fellow Belgian Roger De Vlaeminck attacked early in

6808-638: Was "a magnificent and grotesque washout of a man, ironical towards himself; nothing except the warmth of simple friendship could penetrate his melancholia. But I'm talking of the end of his career. The last year! In 1959! I'm not talking about the great era. In 1959, he wasn't a racing cyclist any more. He was just clinging on [ il tentait de sauver les meubles ]." Jacques Goddet wrote in an appreciation of Coppi's career in L'Équipe : "We would like to have cried out to him ' Stop !' And as nobody dared to, destiny took care of it." Raphaël Géminiani said of Coppi's domination: When Fausto won and you wanted to check

6900-544: Was an Italian cyclist, the dominant international cyclist of the years after the Second World War . His successes earned him the title Il Campionissimo ("Champion of Champions"). He was an all-round racing cyclist: he excelled in both climbing and time trialing, and was also a good sprinter. He won the Giro d'Italia five times ( 1940 , 1947 , 1949 , 1952 , 1953 ), the Tour de France twice ( 1949 and 1952 ), and

6992-532: Was astonished and affronted. Henceforward, the two riders were in personal combat—it often seemed that, as fierce rivals, they cared less about winning a race than beating each other". Tim Hilton, The Guardian Coppi's racing days are generally referred to as the beginning of the golden years of cycle racing. A factor is the competition between Coppi and Gino Bartali . Italian tifosi (fans) divided into coppiani and bartaliani . Bartali's rivalry with Coppi divided Italy. Bartali, conservative, religious,

7084-482: Was causing him pain. Palumbo wrote a newspaper article appealing for help: Coppi then received a Legnano racing bike from a Somma Vesuviana carpenter. The war being as good as over, Coppi was released in 1945. In addition he had distanced himself from Mussolini 's government during his time in British custody, which often resulted in beneficial treatment compared to those who had continued to profess their loyalty to

7176-418: Was created as an idea of journalist Tullo Morgagni . Morgagni wanted to give Milanese rider Pierino Albini the opportunity to take revenge for his defeat against Giovanni Cuniolo in the short-lived Italian King's Cup . His newspaper la Gazzetta dello Sport organized a new race as a 'rematch' on 12 November 1905, called Milano–Milano . The race attracted vast crowds along the course and ended in Milan with

7268-434: Was delirious and I couldn't stop talking. I imagined or maybe saw people all round but I didn't recognise anyone. The doctor treated me for hepatitis, then for yellow fever, finally for typhoid". Géminiani was diagnosed as being infected with plasmodium falciparum , one of the more lethal strains of malaria . Géminiani recovered but Coppi died, his doctors convinced he had a bronchial complaint. La Gazzetta dello Sport ,

7360-498: Was finally able to enter the Tour. After several stages, Coppi was more than half an hour behind in the general classification, but he gained time in the mountain stages, and ended the Tour winning the general classification and the mountains classification, both with his teammate Bartali in second place, also winning the team classification. In 1950, Coppi did not defend his Tour title, because he refused to ride together with Bartali. In 1951, he joined (riding together with Bartali), but

7452-413: Was helpful to Towell in achieving his goals as an administrator, whilst Towell was able, via S.S.C. Napoli footballer Umberto Busani , to help Coppi make contact with local sports journalist Gino Palumbo, who would later become editor of La Gazzetta dello Sport . Coppi wrote to Palumbo asking if he could assist with obtaining a racing bicycle for him as he only had an army bicycle with heavy tyres which

7544-534: Was his last Tour, having ridden three and won two. To conserve energy, he would have soigneurs carry him around his hotel during Grand Tours. Bill McGann wrote: Comparing riders from different eras is a risky business subject to the prejudices of the judge. But if Coppi isn't the greatest rider of all time, then he is second only to Eddy Merckx. One can't judge his accomplishments by his list of wins because World War II interrupted his career just as World War I interrupted that of Philippe Thys . Coppi won it all:

7636-491: Was in 2023 , when it was held in August as part of a combined multi-disciplinary UCI Cycling World Championships , intended to be held every four years. The world championships are located in a different city or region every year. The event can be held over a relatively flat course which, in the case of the road race, favors cycling sprinters or a hilly course which favors a climbing specialist or all-rounder . In each case,

7728-416: Was in and around the city at that time. He was kept in the nearby prisoner of war camp at Ksar Saïd. In the camp he met other cyclists, including Silvio Pedroni , who had previously given Coppi a tyre after the latter had suffered a puncture in a race in 1939, and Ilio Simoni, who would later become a team-mate of Coppi's at Bianchi . He also shared plates with the father of Claudio Chiappucci , who rode

7820-486: Was like the safari had been brought forward several hours, except that for the moment we were hunting mosquitos. Coppi was swiping at them with a towel. Right then, of course, I had no clue of what the tragic consequences of that night would be. Ten times, twenty times, I told Fausto 'Do what I'm doing and get your head under the sheets; they can't bite you there'". Both caught malaria and fell ill when they got home. Géminiani said: "My temperature got to 41.6 °C ... I

7912-487: Was married to an army captain, Enrico Locatelli. Coppi was married to Bruna Ciampolini. Locatelli was a cycling fan. His wife wasn't but she joined him on 8 August 1948 to see the Tre Valli Varesine race. Their car was caught beside Coppi's in a traffic jam. That evening Occhini went to Coppi's hotel and asked for a photograph. He wrote "With friendship to ...", asked her name and then added it. From then on

8004-639: Was played by Sergio Castellitto and Giulia la 'Dama Bianca' (The Woman in White) was played by Ornella Muti . A commonly repeated trope is that when Coppi was asked how to be a champion, his reply was: "Just ride. Just ride. Just ride." An Italian Restaurant in Belfast , designed with road bike parts and pictures, is named Coppi. Asteroid 214820 Faustocoppi was named in his memory in December 2017. The village of his birth, previously known as 'Castellania',

8096-524: Was renamed Castellania Coppi by the Piemont regional council in 2019, in preparation for the centenary of his birth. Gino Bartali took to raiding Coppi's room before races: "The first thing was to make sure I always stayed at the same hotel for a race, and to have the room next to his so I could mount a surveillance. I would watch him leave with his mates, then I would tiptoe into the room which ten seconds earlier had been his headquarters. I would rush to

8188-466: Was still affected by the death of his brother Serse Coppi , and did not excel. In 1952, Coppi started again in the Tour. He won on the Alpe d'Huez , which had been included for the first time that year. He attacked six kilometres from the summit to rid himself of the French rider, Jean Robic . Coppi said: "I knew he was no longer there when I couldn't hear his breathing any more or the sound of his tyres on

8280-422: Was the fourth child, born at 5:00 pm on 15 September 1919. His mother wanted to call him Angelo, but his father preferred Fausto. He was named Angelo Fausto but was known most of his life as Fausto. Coppi had poor health as a child and showed little interest in school. In 1927 he wrote "I ought to be at school, not riding my bicycle" after skipping lessons to spend the day riding a family bike which he had found in

8372-424: Was then interrupted by active service in the Second World War . In 1946 he resumed racing and achieved remarkable successes which would be exceeded only by Eddy Merckx . The veteran writer Pierre Chany said that from 1946 to 1954 Coppi was never once recaught once he had broken away from the rest. Twice, 1949 and 1952, Coppi won the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France in the same year, the first to do so. He won

8464-405: Was venerated in the rural, agrarian south, while Coppi, more worldly, secular, innovative in diet and training, was hero of the industrial north. The writer Curzio Malaparte said: "Bartali belongs to those who believe in tradition ... he is a metaphysical man protected by the saints. Coppi has nobody in heaven to take care of him. His manager, his masseur, have no wings. He is alone, alone on

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