More Bicycles Than Cars Sold in Italy in 2011

For the first time in more than 65 years the number of bicycles sold in Italy surpassed the number of cars sold. Last year Italians bought 1,750,000 bicycles compared to 1,748,000 cars.

That's not the most bicycles sold in Italy, 1,927,600 were sold in 2009, but with Italians buying cars at rates from the 1970s the tipping point was reached. With a financial crisis, and the extremely high cost for gasoline, there has been an ongoing shift towards the use of bicycles in Italy.

Out of a population of 60 million, 6.5 million Italians use a bike to get to work or school, while 10.5 million use them occasionally, mostly at weekends.

Photo: the "Shoppy Bike", an Italian bicycle created by Michele Lazzaro (appears to have quickly disappeared since intro in 2010)


Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal about rides, granfondos, touring, having a good time cycling in Italy, Italian cycling history, racing, etc. are always welcome.

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Detour: Rene Herse- The Book

Every once in awhile we detour off Italian cycling into another subject area, this time to the announcement of a new 424 page book by Jan Heine about Rene Herse, the French framebuilder, his bikes, and his riders.

For more information and additional photos, or to pre-order your copy, click here.

The following from Jan Heine:

Our new book! Instead of telling you about René Herse, I’d like to tell you how this book came about. While I was visiting René Herse’s daughter Lyli many years ago, we talked about restoring the tandem that placed first in the 1956 Paris-Brest-Paris. Lyli thought that she might have some parts in her garage that could be useful. So we headed out and began to rummage around. Among the lawn mower and gardening tools, there were indeed a few interesting supplies, like hollow aluminum fender stays apparently left over from the 1940s technical trials. (The valuable Herse components were sold to another builder many years ago when the shop closed.) Then we came upon two suitcases. “What is in there?” I asked Lyli. She replied: “I don’t know. Open them!”

The suitcases were full of photos. Not just hundreds, but thousands of photos. Not just snapshots; most were of excellent composition and quality, taken by professional photographers. As I looked through them, the whole history of Cycles René Herse began to unfold in front of my eyes. Here was a photo of René and Marcelle Herse as a young couple. There was the first René Herse component, a pedal, and his first crankset; I knew the pedals only from a drawing in Herse’s advertisement in pre-war issues of Le Cycliste.

Herse had introduced his components at the 1938 Technical Trials, where he rode a bike made by Narcisse, but equipped with Herse’s own components. Contemporary reports explained that the bike was lighter than any bike before, but nobody knew any longer what that Narcisse bike looked like. In the suitcase was a photo of Herse at the Trials with his Narcisse! It’s the photo shown above.

There were photos of war-time events that I had never heard about. I found many photos of Herse’s daughter Lyli with various captains winning the tandem category of almost a dozen Poly de Chanteloup hillclimb races. Dramatic night-time images showed riders in Paris-Brest-Paris. Others featured Herse with his team at the finish of competitive events. There was Lyli in the United States, visiting customers and friends during the 1960s, when American orders helped to keep the shop afloat.

The suitcases contained autographed photos from famous racers thanking René Herse for his assistance. Could they corroborate the stories that many champions had ridden on frames that had been made by Herse?

It was a treasure trove of previously unseen materials. Some of the photos were inscribed on the back in Marcelle Herse’s neat handwriting, but most lacked identification. During my research, I was fortunate to speak with many of the old “Pilotes de Herse” who are still alive. Those discussions and their rides have left indelible memories.

Gilbert Bulté took on the task of identifying many events and riders. Paulette Porthault, “the Aunt”, who had known Herse from the earliest days, told us about riders and events that we never had even had heard about, like the war-time technical trials. Women who raced on Lyli Herse’s team in the 1970s filled in other parts of the story. It took half a decade of detective work to piece together this entire history, and by the end, I could recognize some riders like Lyli Herse even if their faces were obscured, just by their way of sitting on the bike. Many company records of Cycles René Herse survive, which helped establish the history of the company, and allowed me to corroborate riders’ and employees’ reminiscences.

From the moment we opened those suitcases, I knew that these archives had to be shared with the world in a new book. The stories from the riders are even richer. As we did our research, one rider after another shared their photo albums to complete the story. For example, Daniel and Madeleine Provot provided the wonderful images of touring during the 1950s (above). As part of this research, we recorded many wonderful stories that otherwise would have been forgotten. Together with the photos, these memories tell a wonderful story of a time when cyclotouring was not just a hobby, but a way of life.

To illustrate the talent of René Herse, we set up photo studios in France, Japan and the U.S. to photograph 20 amazing, original René Herse bikes. The bikes span the entire history of Cycles René Herse, from early machines made during World War II to the last bikes made after Herse’s death in the 1980s. They include rarities like an unridden “New Old Stock” machine from 1945 and a track bike that was ridden to half a dozen French championships.

The result is our new book René Herse: the Bikes, the Builder, the Riders. Compressing a history as rich and varied as that of this prolific builder into a single book was a challenge. Rather than cut the book to a predetermined length and leave out wonderful images and anecdotes, we decided to give this story the space it needed. The book comprises 424 pages and includes more than 450 illustrations – it is the same size but more than twice as thick as The Golden Age of Handbuilt Bicycles.

By focusing on the riders who enjoyed cycling in the company of good friends, I hope this book will inspire future generations of cyclists. The book is being printed now, and will be available in November or early December 2012.

addendum: Jan Heine wrote "It's interesting that in France, bikes with the lower third of the fork blades chrome-plated and the rear ends as well (1/3 of seat and chainstays) were called "à l'Italienne" or "Italian style." Similarly, smooth lugs without the scallop, as seen on many later Herse racing bikes, were called "Italian-style lugs".

Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal about rides, granfondos, touring, having a good time cycling in Italy, Italian cycling history, racing, etc. are always welcome.

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Contact me at veronaman@gmail.com. There are more than 2,600 stories in this blog. The search feature to the right works best for finding subjects in the blog. There is also a translate button at the bottom so you can translate each page.    

Sarto Cycles at Interbike

A big thank you to pezcyclingnews.com for permission to use this report from Interbike. Sarto frames are made in the Veneto region.


2012 Interbike Las Vegas: Round Two
by Charles Manantan

For a couple of years now, I’ve mentioned Italy’s Sarto Cycles as one of the brands that North America have seen a lot of without knowing what they’re seeing.

This year’s Vuelta had a Sarto bike under a very prominent GC rider, though you wouldn’t have noted the brand nearly as prominently as what was displayed in Las Vegas…

Part of the reason Sarto manage to supply custom bikes for teams sponsored by large, non-custom carbon manufacturers is down to their ability to spec not only geometry, but to actually produce tubes to specification. And that specification includes not only wall thickness and stiffness, but the bigger difference in being able to play with shape. It’s that shape shifting ability that allows them to produce custom versions of bikes that usually have special shapes that typically come from molds.

And it’s that depth of capacity that allows them to produce bikes that look quite like the more reserved custom carbon you’re used to seeing…

As well as custom carbon in shapes you’re not so used to seeing…

One of the challenges they’ll have as a company is in deciding which tubes to offer through select retailers for North America, as it’s simply impossible to effectively sort through the hundred plus shapes they can provide. Their dealers can literally specify every section of the bike.

If we’re being honest, there are simply too many choices to expect fickle customers to sort through and after all, some of that time also needs to go to parts selection befitting custom Italian work…

A spy shot of a couple of things rolling around at the factory revealed that Sarto are not satisfied with just tube shapes and bikes but are developing a few other new things as well…

The picture above is a zoom in of leaked picture of what was supposed to be a notable frame, but what stands out is that a clever man inside is working on options to smooth out the road by designing different suspension rails. (word is that this is the hand work of someone whose name rhymes with “Antonio”). New developments make sense as Sarto are in process of a factory upgrade that will have them adding equipment more frequently associated with F-1 teams than bike builders, so we’re staying tuned here.

You can see more at SartoCycles.com

Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal about rides, granfondos, touring, having a good time cycling in Italy, Italian cycling history, racing, etc. are always welcome.

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Merckx 525: The First Biography Authorized by Eddy Merckx

"Merckx 525", the first Eddy Merckx authorized biography, has been published.  In Italy Eddy Merckx won 5 Giro d'Italia, 7 Milan-Sanremo, 2 Giro di Lombardia. The announcement from the publisher:

Boulder, CO, USA - October 10, 2012 - VeloPress, the leading publisher of books for cyclists, is pleased to announce the publication of Merckx 525, the first biography authorized by Eddy Merckx himself and the first he says is a truly complete record of his career.

Revealing a dazzling trove of recently discovered photographs not yet seen outside of Europe, Merckx 525 is an all-encompassing celebration of the unmatchable career of the Cannibal, Eddy Merckx, the greatest cyclist of all time and the most dominant athlete of the 20th century.

This spectacular coffee table book is now available in bookstores, bike shops, and online. Preview Merckx 525 at www.velopress.com/merckx.

Known as "the Cannibal" for his insatiable hunger to win, Merckx gobbled up 525 race victories, an unrivaled legacy lionized in this once-in-a-lifetime homage. Merckx 525 presents newly restored photographs from private collections, the Merckx family, and European newspaper archives, shedding new light on this awe-inspiring athlete's career from promising youth in Belgium, to fabulous darling of Europe, to hardened veteran of the bike-racing wars.

With authoritative text and keepsake craftsmanship, Merckx 525 digs deeper than any book before to reveal the man behind the legend, cycling's incomparable Eddy Merckx.

"Merckx 525 is a unique collection of exclusive photographs, including some that even I had not seen before. It is the only work authorized by me.and the first truly complete record of my accomplishments." - Eddy Merckx

Merckx 525
Ron Reuman, Stephan Vanfleteren, Jan Maes, Frederik Backelandt
Hardcover with 126 full-color photographs throughout.
13 ¼" x 9 ½", 224 pp., $60.00, 978-1-934030-89-9

7x Milan-San Remo | 5x Liège-Bastogne-Liège | 3x Ghent-Wevelgem | 3x Paris-Roubaix | 3x Flèche Wallonne | 3x Paris-Nice | 2x Amstel Gold Race | 2x Omloop Het Volk | 2x Tour of Lombardy | 2x Tour of Flanders | 2x Tour of Belgium | 1x Dauphiné Libéré | 1x Midi Libre | 1x Grand Prix Frankfurt | 1x Paris-Brussels | 1x Scheldeprijs | 1x Tour de Suisse | 1x Tour de Romandie | 1x World Amateur Road Champion | 3x World Professional Road Champion | 1x Belgian Road Champion | 5x Tour de France | 5x Giro d'Italia | 1x Vuelta a España | 7x Super Prestige Pernod International | World Hour Record

Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal about rides, granfondos, touring, having a good time cycling in Italy, Italian cycling history, racing, etc. are always welcome.

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Contact me at veronaman@gmail.com. There are more than 2,600 stories in this blog. The search feature to the right works best for finding subjects in the blog. There is also a translate button at the bottom so you can translate each page.    

Veneto: The Best of Italy - Cycling, Food and Wine

My thanks to Kathy Bechtel of Italiaoutdoors Food and Wine (www.italiaoutdoorsfoodandwine.com) for writing in with a story from one of her trips. Italiaoutdoors Food and Wine specializes in active vacations complemented by a focus on food, wine, culture and history.

Veneto: The Best of Italy - Cycling, Food and Wine

"Think of the northeast of Italy, and most tourists think of Venice - one of the most romantic cities in Europe, with its gondolas, villas, and Piazza San Marco, surrounded by the waters of the Adriatic. Not a spot usually considered for cycling, but the Lido di Venezia, just a short ferry ride away, is a great place to explore by bike.

Expert cyclists may think of the majestic Dolomites, the magnificent peaks north of Venice, home to some of the most challenging climbs in the world. But cyclists of all levels will find terrain to their liking here in the Veneto. From flatter rides along the Brenta canal, riding by Palladian villas built for the Venetian aristocracy, to the foothills where we can visit picturesque walled cities and a different wine zone each day, to the most famous climbs on the Giro d’Italia, there is something for every cyclist to enjoy. But don’t take our word for it - come check out the roads here on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, as we recently did - riding about 40km inland of Venice, with a view of the Alps to our north as we cycle from Castelfranco Veneto, to Asolo and onto Bassano del Grappa. Throughout the day we are joined by literally hundreds of local cyclists out for a wonderful afternoon of riding, enjoying the scenery, and a stop or two for a prosecco and a snack. Just our style!

We began the day in Castelfranco Veneto, originally a castle built in the 13th century. Portions of the medieval walls and towers still stand today. The famous painter Giorgione was born here, and the cathedral contains one of his most renowned works, called ‘La Pala’. There are several excellent restaurants to enjoy on a visit here, but my favorite is Antico Girone; not only due to its tasty local dishes and exceptional wine list, but they’ve also been kind enough to feed a couple of our hungry cyclists who were looking for some pasta during the hours of riposo, when most restaurants, including them, were closed! 

The day before, we enjoyed a great tour of the prosecco wine region, which you can do from a base in Castelfranco. There are numerous route options here, with hills for those who wish a vigorous ride, and flatter terrain for those who just want to tour and view the vineyards of the Prosecco and Piave wine regions. We ended with a wine tasting, enjoying just a few of the wines from the vineyards we explored earlier in the day. Well, to be honest, we enjoy a wine tasting every day...

Today we head first to Asolo. A hilltop town known as “The Pearl of Treviso” and also as “The City of a Hundred Horizons”, it is one of the most beautiful towns in Italy. The former Queen of Cyprus ruled here in the late 1400s, and later famous residents included the poet Robert Browning. It is a brief climb up to Asolo, but all take their time, and are well rewarded when they reach the top. Asolo is a town well-known to cyclists, I viewed the Giro d’Italia as it flew by on the narrow streets of this town in 2010. Here, we blend in with the locals. On this spectacular Sunday, we mingle with the crowds of native cyclists - bikes vastly outnumber cars here - as we stop for a quick snack at a local cafe.

Next, we are off to Bassano del Grappa. Originally the town was known as Bassano Veneto. The town is famous for the renowned Italian digestif, grappa, with two well-known producers located here - Poli and Nardini. It is commonly believed that the spirit was named after the town, but the town itself was not called Bassano del Grappa until 1928, long after the spirit was invented.

Bassano was located right on the front line in both World Wars. During the first World War, terrible battles ensued on neighboring Monte Grappa, where the Italian army regrouped after their devastating loss at Caporetto and made a heroic last stand against the Austrians. At the top of the mountain lie the remains of over 12,000 Italian troops and over 10,000 Austrian and Hungarian troops who lost their lives during this battle. In 1928, the name was changed to Bassano del Grappa, in memory of the soldiers killed. Hemingway fans may recall the role this town played in his novel A Farewell to Arms.

Cyclists who want a real challenge can take a detour and visit the summit of Monte Grappa, also a route known to fans of the Giro d’Italia. Here, there are numerous options for the ascent that we can guide you to, from one that reaches a 10% grade max to as much as 20%. Those who wish to stay on flatter terrain can take their time on a more circuitous route, and spend some time in Bassano visiting the beautiful Ponte degli Alpini - the lovely pontoon bridge designed by famed architect Palladio. All of our riders can meet up in Bassano to enjoy a wonderful lunch, followed by a tasting of the local grappas at Poli.

As the chef and wine lover of our guiding team, my passion is the foods and wines we see along the way. Wonderful seasonal produce grows all around Bassano del Grappa, from grapes for the local wines - we are in the Breganze and Vicenza DOC regions now - to olive oil, cherries, beets, and radicchio. On a recent culinary and biking trip in spring, we were lucky enough to visit Bassano during asparagus season. Bassano is home to one of the rarest delicacies in Italy, its white asparagus that appears between mid-March and mid-June. In the 1500 and 1600s, it was reserved for the banquets of the Venetian nobility. Today, it is still not exported outside of the region. We got a rare chance to cook with it during one of our afternoon cooking classes. So if you are in Bassano during the spring, make sure your post-ride pasta is fettucine with asparagus!

We can end our travels here in Bassano, with the afternoon to explore, or continue on to Marostica, or even Vicenza. This area supplies so many different ride options, we are never at a loss to find the perfect route or routes for a group! And with foods from the fish of the Adriatic to the mountain cuisine of the Dolomites, and over 30 different wine regions to explore, this is probably the most versatile and fascinating region in all of Italy."



You can watch a slide show of Italiaoutdoors Food and Wine photographs here:


Kathy also writes a blog, Italian Food, Wine and Travel, at www.chefbikeski.com


Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal about rides, granfondos, touring, having a good time cycling in Italy, Italian cycling history, racing, etc. are always welcome.

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Contact me at veronaman@gmail.com. There are more than 2,600 stories in this blog. The search feature to the right works best for finding subjects in the blog. There is also a translate button at the bottom so you can translate each page.    

How Fast Can You Go Up the Muro di Sormano?

Here are the top 10 times of the 1.8 km climb of the Muro di Sormano during the Il Lombardia:

1. HENAO MONTOYA Sergio 9'20".071
2. RODRIGUEZ OLIVER Joaquin 9'20".309,   0'00".238 behind
3. QUINTANA ROJAS Nairo Alex 9'21".461,  0'01".390
4. NIBALI Vincenzo 9'21".854,   0'01".783
5. URAN URAN Rigoberto 9'23".444,  0'03".373
6. CONTADOR VELASCO Alberto 9'23".577,  0'03".506
7. MOLLEMA Bauke 9'24".101,   0'04".030
8. KESSIAKOFF Fredrik 9'39".053,  0'18".982
9. SANTAMBROGIO Mauro 9'41".703,  0'21".632
10.ANTON HERNANDEZ Igor 9'42".745,  0'22".674

Last was:
83. GRIVKO Andriy 12'40".132,   3'20".061



Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal about rides, granfondos, touring, having a good time cycling in Italy, Italian cycling history, racing, etc. are always welcome.

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Contact me at veronaman@gmail.com. There are more than 2,600 stories in this blog. The search feature to the right works best for finding subjects in the blog. There is also a translate button at the bottom so you can translate each page.   

Mario Cipollini Riding in Gran Fondo Giro d’Italia Miami - Coral Gables

News from the Gran Fondo Giro d'Italia:

Miami, FL – You better watch out, you better get in shape… Super Mario is coming to town! As an early gift to American cyclists for the holiday season, former world champion Mario Cipollini will be riding in the upcoming Gran Fondo Giro d’Italia Miami - Coral Gables, to be held on Sunday, November 11, 2012 in the Magic City!

Flamboyant Mario Cipollini, also known as “Super Mario”, “Cipo” and “Lion King,” is a true champion who has won the most stages of the Giro d’Italia (42), in addition to the World Road Cycling Championship, the Milano-San Remo, three Gent-Wevelgem, 12 stages of the Tour de France, culminating in an impressive record of 189 total victories in his long and acclaimed career.

Beloved or hated for his unique charisma, Cipollini’s natural elegance and glamour redefined the image standards in the cycling industry. In fact, the “CIPO Rating” was even used for years as a popular indicator of apparel coolness! His exciting lifestyle added to much of the rumors about him: strikingly good looking, impeccably dressed and always surrounded by beautiful women, he is a perfect testimonial to the Italian lifestyle. “It has always been a unique experience for me to participate in the Tour of Italy, the Giro” says Mario Cipollini.  “It has been the greatest honor to become the rider who has won more stages than anyone! I look forward to participating in this Gran Fondo, which is the perfect combination of cycling and flavor of the “Made in Italy” brand. It is really exciting to be an ambassador, in a sense, of the Giro in a fascinating place like Miami: definitely a must.” Autographs and photo opportunities with Cipollini will be available on Saturday, November 10 at the event’s Expo, located in front of Miami City Hall (3500 Pan American Drive).

Gran Fondo Giro d’Italia provides American bike enthusiasts with a unique opportunity to connect with their favorite champions. Registrants will have an opportunity to ride, meet and mingle with Mario Cipollini in exclusive VIP activities, to be revealed in the next weeks. In addition, two lucky participants will be selected to win a VIP weekend as guests of the GIRO D’ITALIA 2013 (access to VIP activities, hotel and accommodations included) or to win a fixed gear Pinarello bicycle!

Sponsors of the event include some of the best companies in cycling, such as Pinarello, Vittoria, FSA, Selle Italia, Limar and Santini. The event is under the auspices of the Consulate General of Italy in Miami and the Italian Trade Commission and supported by Bicycling, Universal Sport, Biltmore Hotel, Astoria Wines, and Highgear Cycling. The proceeds will benefit Florida International University.

For additional information and to register, please visit: www.granfondogiroditalia.com

Note: photo was not part of press release

Related story: RCS Sport Launches “Gran Fondo Giro d’Italia”

Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal about rides, granfondos, touring, having a good time cycling in Italy, Italian cycling history, racing, etc. are always welcome.

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Contact me at veronaman@gmail.com. There are more than 2,600 stories in this blog. The search feature to the right works best for finding subjects in the blog. There is also a translate button at the bottom so you can translate each page.