Tour de France is the world’s most popular and prestigious bicycle race. Wining “the Tour” is a great victory for cyclists, as well as groupset producers. Here are the Tour de France Winner Groupsets, since 1937, year by year (also the average speeds of each year’s winner).
Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali: two cycling legends of Italy. The rivalry between them is perhaps the most famous sporting duel in history. It has been started during World War II and continued afterward.
In December 2012, RCS Sport, the organizer of the Giro d’Italia, has put together 100 journalists to rate the greatest moments of the race’s 103-year history. The fifth question was “Which are the biggest sporting rivalries in the Giro d’Italia?”, and the obvious answer was: “The rivalry between Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali.”
Today’s historic photo of the day: Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali smoking cigars in “Totò al Giro d’Italia” (Totò in Giro d’Italia), a 1948 Italian comedy film directed by Mario Mattoli and starring Totò.
We lost Alfredo Martini, a pro cyclist from Fausto Coppi‘s era, yesterday (August 25, 2014).
Martini was born on 18 February 1921 in Florence, Tuscany. He was a professional between 1941 and 1957. He won the Tour of the Apennines in 1947, the Giro del Piemonte in 1950, and a stage in the 1950 Giro d’Italia (stage 2, a 245 km -152 mi- running from Salsomaggiore Terme to Martini’s home town, Florence). He finished 1950 Giro in third place, after the winner Hugo Koblet and the second finisher Gino Bartali. He also wore the race leader’s pink jersey “maglia rosa” during stage 8.
Colnago C35 equipped with Campagnolo Super Record gold: it is not only an artwork, but it is also a milestone in the history of cycling technology. It was produced in 1989, as a commemorative model created in celebration of Colnago’s 35th anniversary. Developed from the work with Ferrari Engineering, it was one of the first frames to be manufactured using a carbon fiber composite and was equipped out with a gold-plated Campagnolo Super Record groupset.
I’ve inspired by GCN’s video titled “Top 10 iconic road bikes in racing history” while writing this post. I made some changes, excluded some of Daniel Lloyd’s choices, and extended the list by including a few bikes. Here are the top 12 iconic bikes in cycling history (IMHO, of course).
The Italian Bozzi family has once again moved ahead to revitalize the historic Legnano brand. In 2010, they resolved a licensing agreement issue with Bianchi, who had acquired the famous brand after the assassination of Emilio Bozzi in 1974. The new Legnano models were introduced in September 2013 at ExpoBici.
The history of Italian bicycles starts with the “L” of Legnano. Few if any marques can boast a legacy of success in the competition thanks to champions like Alfredo Binda, Giovanni Brunero, Learco Guerra, Gino Bartali, Fausto Coppi, and Ercole Baldini.
Reproduction of the famous bottle photo of Coppi and Bartali: the photos are from 2010. Along the dirt road that leads to Montalcino Castiglion del Bosco, Faustino Coppi and Andrea Bartali, the sons of Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali, evoked the gesture among their fathers while they were climbing the Col du Galibier in the Tour de France in 1952. The occasion, in addition, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the death of Fausto Coppi (January 1960) and 10th of that Bartali (5 May 2000), took place on the roads of Giro d’Italia, the route of the 7th stage between Carrara and Montalcino (215 km).
The first name of “gruppo” (groupset) came with the Campagnolo Gran Sport rear derailleur in 1953. Rear & front derailleur, hubs, and levers were for the first time sold as part of a unique system.
Vita in Salita (Life Uphill) is a beautiful song by Italian singer&songwriter Marcello Bettaglio.