Thursday, May 07, 2009

Excited about the Giro

The Giro d'Italia (a bike stage race through Italy, second only to the Tour de France in stature) starts in just a few days, and I am getting very excited. It looks like there will be some very interesting stages this year. In keeping with the theme here are some videos of two of the best Giro riders ever. The first is of the legendary Fausto "Il Campionissimo" Coppi.

The second is of Marco "Al Pirata" Pantani.

Both riders were great climbers, both road for Bianchi and both died young. Actually my Bianchi road bike is in a way named for them. It is called the "9-2-8" which stands for the three years in which Bianchi riders won both the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France. Coppi won in '49 and '52 and Pantani in '98.

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3 Comments:

Blogger Unknown said...

Oh yes ... the "Giro d'Italia" is very near ... and I'm going to see it on 16 May.

Marco ride everywhere! YUO ARE THE BEST! The Mortirolo is always for you! We MUST remember you!

2:37 AM  
Blogger Slow John said...

Loved the video. I assume the Coppi footage is from a movie. What movie is it?

10:19 PM  
Blogger Paulie said...

The clip is from the 1995 film "Il Grande Fausto" with Coppi being played by Sergio Castellitto. I imagine he had to lose quite a bit of weight for the role.

7:28 AM  

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