Builder Profile: Ugo De Rosa

From the De Rosa website:
“Ugo De Rosa was born on the 27th of January 1934 in Milan, Italy. As a young boy he developed a passion for bicycle racing, a passion which remains with him to this day. It led him to take up the sport in which he advanced through several ranks at the amateur level. In technical school he completed a mechanical and engineering curriculum and became very interested the science of the bicycle itself. This would prove to be the area where De Rosa would make his mark on the cycling world.”

Rider Profile: Eddy Merckx

The greatest cyclist of all time…

 

Although it’s difficult to compare athletes of different eras, the ‘Cannibal’ dominated the competition for a decade.

Gino Bartali: A cyclist who saved a nation

Gino Bartali born in Florence, Italy, in 1914 had a cycling career that spanned both sides of WWII. 

He was 24 years old when he won the Tour de France in 1938; then the war robbed him of his peak athletic years, from his mid twenties to his early thirties. 

He came back ten years later in 1948 to win the Tour a second time. He also won the Giro d’Italia three times, in 1936, 1937, and again after the war in 1946. 

Bartali was a great climber and won the Giro Mountains Jersey a record seven times. He was also the first to win both the Mountains Jersey and take overall victory in the Tour de France in 1938, then repeated the feat in his 1948 win.

Gino Bartali is probably best known for his epic rivalry with Fausto Coppi, another great Italian cyclist. (Picture below left, Coppi nearest camera.) Bartali from Florence in the Tuscany region, was a devout Catholic and deeply religious; this earned him the nickname of “Gino the Pious.” Coppi, on the other hand, was from the industrial north, was not religious at all.

The rivalry between these two in some ways divided a nation, but both riders gave Italy much to celebrate, and this was a country that needed cause for jubilation at that time. During the late 1940s and early 1950s, Italy was still recovering their defeat in WWII, and the rest of Europe was still slow to forgive.

Fiorenzo Magni: 1920 – 2012

Often referred to as the “Third Man,” because he raced in the late 1940s, early 1950s with the other two Italian greats,Fausto Coppi andGino Bartali.

Sometimes on the same national team, sometime rivals, Magni was capable, and often did, beat the other two.

In a period when the sport was less globalized, he won the Tour of Flanders three consecutive years in 1949, 50, and 51. At that time the second non- Belgian to do so.

The press named him, "The Lion of Flanders." He won the Giro d’Italia three times, the last time in 1955 at the age of 35, which to this day stands as a record for the oldest person to win the Giro.

This era is sometimes called the “Golden Age of Cycling.” In the decade following the end of WWII, cycling was the main sport on the European Continent with Italy, France, Belgium and Switzerland being the main players.

Fausto Coppi: Il Campionissimo

Italian cyclist Fausto Coppi was one of the most successful and popular cyclists of all time. 

Like Gino Bartali his career was interrupted by WWII; however, the big difference was, he was five years younger than Bartali; Coppi was 25 when war ended, Bartali was already past 30.

His pre-war successes came early, he won his first Giro d’Italia in 1940 at age 20; to this day the youngest ever to do so.

During the war in 1942 he set the world hour record (Unpaced.) at the Vigorelli Velodrome, in Milan. 

He covered 45.798 kilometers (28.457 miles.) in one hour. (Picture left.) A record that would stand for 14 years until broken byJacques Anquetil in 1956.

One year after setting this record Fausto Coppi was in the Italian army, captured by the British, and held as a prisoner of war in North Africa; where he remained until the war ended.

Coppi’s post war career in the late 1940s and early 1950s is the stuff of legends. When on form he was unbeatable, many times simply riding away from the opposition to finish solo often minutes ahead.

For example in the 1946 Milan-San Remo race; Coppi attacked with nine other riders just 3 miles (5 km) into the 181 mile (292 km) race. On the climb up the Turchino, Coppi dropped the nine riders and went on to win by 14 minutes over the second placed rider, and by 18:30 over the rest of the peloton.

Classic italian manufactures racing bicyles

The obsession of the Italians for road bike racing during the 20th century led to the establishment of a proliferation of small, highly skilled, artisan road bike manufacturers scattered all over the country. Their passion combined with an innate eye for style and design led to the creation of many exceptionally high quality and unique road bikes leading to what is todays world obsession with vintage road bikes.

All time top 100 rider biographies

1. Eddy Merckx, BEL

 2. Bernard Hinault, FRA

 3. Fausto Coppi, ITA