The translation of the book's description:
The story of a finding that will shake up the world of bicycle-related collecting. The faithful reconstruction, based upon historical documentation, of the Bianchi bicycles used by Fausto Coppi over the course of his extraordinary career. A book that is not to be missed by all lovers of memorabilia and vintage bikes.
Much has been written about Fausto Coppi, both as a racer and as a man, about his exploits, about his death and about the construction of a true and proper myth. On the other hand, little has been said about the relationship between the Campionissimo and his bikes. It is from this point of view that this book begins, from the impassioned research and description of the Bianchi bikes used by the Campionissimo over the course of his career, from 1945 to 1958. This has all been possible thanks to the an extraordinary find: the historical production records of the “reparto Corse” of Bianchi. A true treasure has come to life from a forgotten briefcase - that of Pinella De Grandi, perhaps the most famous mechanic of cycling history, nicknamed “Pinza d’Oro” [the Golden Wrench]- and recovered by Paolo Amadori, one of the two authors of the book. On top of the production records, which it had been thought were lost forever together with the frame numbers and sizes of the various frames built for all the Bianchi racers from the early 40's to the late 60's, the note books and the diaries of Pinella were also found, in which the mechanic to the champions noted, day by day, a variety of technical elements and notes about the performance of the riders in the races (in the Giro, in the Tour and in other competitions). Thanks to these previously unpublished documents, the authors Amadori and Tullini have cataloged in detail 14 original bikes out of the 70 known to have been built for Coppi during his career with Bianchi (from 1945 to 1958), and have supplied an accurate technical description for each one of them, accompanied by rich photographic documentation, thereby telling in a new way and accompanied by numerous never before seen photos of the cycling exploits that saw these bikes accompany the Campionissimo.
More details here.
Available from Amazon.
Content for the Italian Cycling Journal is now based upon contributions from readers. Please contribute. Stories about rides, granfondos, touring, having a good time cycling in Italy, Italian cycling history, racing, etc. are always welcome. Contact me at veronaman@gmail.com.
Posts
