In tribute to Fausto Coppi

Today would have been the 92^nd birthday of Fausto Coppi, alas sadly he died before his time at the age of 40 from malaria.

 Now, I guess many of you would not have heard of Fausto Coppi, which is why I decided to write this post. Fausto Coppi was one of the greatest cyclists of all time and indeed a cyclist who defined the sport as it is today. Cycling could fairly be split into pre-Coppi and post- Coppi (which incidentally coincides with pre and post world war II). Before Coppi cycling was the pursuit of the worthy brute and after Coppi it became a more professional sport, with much more attention to training, diet, tactics and equipment. It was the clinical and very dedicated attention to these factors that led Lance Armstrong to his 7 tour de France victories, but it really started with Coppi.

His achievements today on paper may not look as impressive as those of some of the other cycling greats, however context is needed here. First of all 5 Giro d'Italia (more info here) is an incredible achievement, only achieved by 2 other riders both of whom where the best of there time (the supreme Binda and Eddy_MerckxMerckx), the numerous one day races such as Paris-Roubaix (more info here), Milan-San Remo, (more info here)  Giro d'Lombardia (more info here) (to name a few) and the world championship.

However the most impressive of his achievements was winning the Giro-Tour double, (the first time this had been achieved by a cyclist) twice. This is not a feat to be underestimated, it has only ever been done by 9 cyclists and only been done more than once by 4 cyclists (including Coppi), who incidentally, are considered to be in the top 5 cyclists of all time. The Giro and the Tour are two of the hardest endurance events around; to win one an athlete with an incredible physique and a bit of luck is needed. It is 3 weeks of cycling, with over 100 miles a day, in all sorts of weather, across country varying from flatlands to mountains. Therefore winning both in the same year (they are separated by a month) is simply stunning. Add to this the conditions of the roads and the bikes Coppi's achievement was a landmark in cycling history which will probably only be matched when a rider wins all 3 grand tours in a year.

He truly deserved the title 'Il Campionissimo' (Champion of Champions)

For more information about Coppi I would recommend the excellent Biography by William Fotheringham  -   Fallen Angel: The Passion of Fausto Coppi  Link

For info about the Giro d'Italia I would recommend John Foots excellent book -  Pedalare! Pedalare! A History of Italian Cycling Link