Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Museum: Museo del Ciclismo "Learco Guerra"





The Museo del Ciclismo "Learco Guerra" is part of the larger Museo Tazio Nuvolari which is located at the Palazzo del Podestà in Mantova. Tazio Nuvolari, the famous racing car driver, and Learco Guerra were both born in small towns near Mantova.

Learco Guerra was the first to wear the pink jersey of the Giro d'Italia when it was introduced in 1931. He also won the World Championship in 1931. For five consecutive years, 1930 to 1934, he won the Italian national championship. He finished 2nd in the Tour de France in 1930 (wearing the yellow jersey for seven days) and 1933. He ended his career in 1942 while still dominating the middle distance motor paced events. He was nicknamed the "human locomotive" for his power in the flats.

Learco Guerra died in Milan in 1963.

The section of the museum dedicated to Guerra was established in 1995. Among the highlights of the collection is the first pink jersey in the history of the Giro d'Italia, the rainbow jersey of World Champion, the yellow jersey of the Tour de France, and the tricolor Italian national championship jersey. There are also trophies, photographs, memorabilia and bicycles. One of the bikes is a MAINO that Guerra used to win Milan-Sanremo in 1933 and the Giro d'Italia the following year.

Note: Since December 1, 2008, the Tazio Nuvolari Museum is closed due to restoration of the palazzo. To contact the Museum staff please write to their e-mail address: info AT tazionuvolari.it, or contact Automobile Club Mantova, piazza 80° Fanteria, 13- 46100 Mantova (tel +39 0376 325691).

Museum address:
Museo Tazio Nuvolari
Palazzo del Podestà, piazza Broletto
Mantova

This museum will be added to the CYCLING MUSEUMS IN ITALY article.

Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal welcome; contact me at veronaman@gmail.com. There are more than 1,100 stories in this blog. The search feature to the right works best for finding subjects in the blog and there is also a translate button at the bottom so you can translate each page.

No comments:

Post a Comment