Costante Girardengo

Costante Girardengo (18 March 1893 - 9 February 1978) was an Italian professional cyclist, considered by many to be one of the finest riders in the history of the sport. He was the first rider to be declared a “Campionissimo” or “champion of champions” by the Italian media and fans. At the height of his popularity in the 1920s he was said to be more popular than Mussolini and it was decreed that all express trains should stop in his home town, an honour only normally awarded to heads of state^[1]. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... March 18 is the 77th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (78th in leap years). ... Year 1893 (MDCCCXCIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... February 9 is the 40th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday. ... Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (July 29, 1883 – April 28, 1945) was the prime minister and dictator of Italy from 1922 until 1943, when he was overthrown. ...

His career achievements include two wins in the Giro d'Italia, six wins in Milan-Sanremo, three wins in the Giro di Lombardia, he was also Italian road race champion on nine occasions. His professional career was extensive, lasting from 1912 to 1936 and was interrupted by World War I which robbed Girardengo of some of his best years. He was ranked number one in the World in 1919, 1922, 1923, 1925 and 1926. He race almost exclusively in his home country as was the custom in those days, as foreign travel was not easy. Girardengo was of only small stature and this earned him the nickname "The Novi Runt"^[1]. The Giro dItalia, also simply known as the Giro, is a long distance road bicycle race for professional cyclists held over three weeks in May or early June in and around Italy. ... Milan - San Remo, nicknamed la primavera, is an annual cycling race between Milan and San Remo. ... The Tour of Lombardy (Italian: Giro di Lombardia) is an Italian cycling race. ... This article is becoming very long. ...

Career

Born in Novi Ligure (province of Alessandria, Piedmont), Costante Girardengo turned professional in 1913 at the age of 20 for the Maino-Dunlop team after impressing as an amateur the previous year by finishing runner up in the Tour of Tuscany. He met with immediate success winning a stage in the Giro d’Italia (his first of 30 stage wins in the Giro) and becoming Italian road race champion. He repeated these successes in 1914 and also took his first of his five wins in Milano-Torino. 1914 saw Girardengo win the longest ever stage in the Giro d'Italia, a 430 kilometre leg between Lucca and Rome^[2]. Later that same year Girardengo took part in the Tour de France for the only time in his career, riding as a guest for the Automoto team he crashed several times in stages five and six and abandoned the race^[3]. 1915 saw him take another win in Milano-Torino but Milan-Sanremo resulted in disappointment when he was disqualified after winning the race for going off course. Novi Ligure is a town north of Genoa, in the Piedmont region of the province of Alessandria of northwest Italy. ... Alessandria (It. ... For other uses, see Piedmont (disambiguation). ... Race Logo courtesy of the race organisers (www. ... Lucca is a city in Tuscany, northern central Italy, situated on the river Serchio in a fertile plain near (but not on) the Ligurian Sea. ... Nickname: The Eternal City Motto: SPQR: Senatus PopulusQue Romanus Location of the city of Rome (yellow) within the Province of Rome (red) and region of Lazio (grey) Coordinates: Region Lazio Province Province of Rome Founded 21 April 753 BC  - Mayor Walter Veltroni Area    - City 1285 km²  (580 sq mi)  - Urban... The Tour de France is the worlds best known cycling race, a three week long road race that covers a circuit of most areas around France, and sometimes neighbouring countries. ...

Much of the professional cycle racing was stopped after 1915 because of the First World War and it was not until 1918 that Girardengo took another win, taking the first of his six victories in Milan-Sanremo, a record which Eddy Merckx eventually eclipsed over 50 years later. He also finished in the first three of the same race every year from 1917 to 1926 and was first over the Turchino Pass on five occasions. His post 1918 form was all the more remarkable as during the First World War Girardengo had contracted Spanish flu and nearly died, his manager believing a survivor of that disease could not race properly refused at one point to renew his licence^[4]. Edouard Louis Joseph Merckx (IPA: ) (born June 17, 1945, Meensel-Kiezegem, Vlaams Brabant, Belgium) is a retired Belgian professional cyclist. ... Image:Spanish flu notice. ...

Girardengo took the first of his Giro d’Italia wins in 1919 (including seven stage wins), however his form in the Giro was not always good and he abandoned the race in the early stages in 1920, 1921 and 1922 before dominating in 1923. 1923 was undoubtedly Girardengo’s best year with 16 victories, he took his second Giro d’Italia win including eight of the ten stages as well as many of the top Italian one day races. Despite racing in Italy for most of his career, Girardengo had a burning desire to win Paris-Roubaix, he first raced there in 1921 but he was unlucky on several occasions, breaking his bike when well placed and never coming close to winning. In 1924 Girardengo won the GP Wolber in France, then regarded as the unofficial World Championship. Begun in 1896, Paris-Roubaix, third of the ten UCI World Cup races, has become the most famous single-day bicycle road race. ... The GP Wolber was a French cycling event in the 1920s. ...

Girardengo finished runner up in the inaugural World Championship road race held on the Nürburgring in Germany in 1927, the four man Italian team also included Alfredo Binda, Gaetano Belloni and Domenico Piemontese , the Italians worked perfectly as a team with Binda breaking away 20 miles from the finish to win comfortably, the Italians filled the first four places on that rainy day in Germany. He took his sixth win in Milan-Sanremo in 1928 and this was his last big victory on the road although he continued riding until the 1936 season when he retired at the age of 43. The UCI Road World Championships, often referred to as the World Cycling Championships, is the annual world championship for bicycle road racing organized by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). ... Detailed Nürburgring map showing both the Nordschleife and the new GP section. ... Alfredo Binda (August 11, 1902 - January 1, 1986) was an Italian cyclist, one of the best road racers before the Second World War. ...

After his retirement Girardengo became involved as a coach of the professional Maino team. He also became the head coach of the Italian national squad for a time, advising Gino Bartali when he won the 1938 Tour de France^[5]. Later on he gave his name “Girardengo” to a brand of motorbikes manufactured between 1951 and 1954 in the northern Italian city of Alessandria. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... For the Alessandria meteorite of 1860, see Meteorite falls. ...

He died in 1978 at Cassano Spinola, just outside Novi Ligure, at the age of 85.

Career highlights

• 1913 Italian Road Championship
• 1914 Italian Road Championship; Milano-Torino
• 1915 Milano-Torino
• 1918 Milan-Sanremo
• 1919 Giro del Piemonte; Giro d'Italia; Italian Road Championship; Milano-Torino; Giro di Lombardia
• 1920 Giro del Piemonte; Italian Road Championship; Milano-Torino
• 1921 Italian Road Championship; Milan-Sanremo; Giro di Lombardia
• 1922 Italian Road Championship; Giro di Lombardia
• 1923 Italian Road Championship; Milan-Sanremo; Milano-Torino
• 1924 Giro del Piemonte; Giro d'Italia; Italian Road Championship; GP Wolber
• 1925 Italian Road Championship; Milan-Sanremo
• 1926 Milan-Sanremo
• 1928 Milan-Sanremo

Race Logo courtesy of the race organisers (www. ... Milan - San Remo, nicknamed la primavera, is an annual cycling race between Milan and San Remo. ... The Giro dItalia, also simply known as the Giro, is a long distance road bicycle race for professional cyclists held over three weeks in May or early June in and around Italy. ... The Tour of Lombardy (Italian: Giro di Lombardia) is an Italian cycling race. ... The GP Wolber was a French cycling event in the 1920s. ...

References

• A Century of Cycling, William Fotheringham, ISBN 1 84000 654 4
• European Cycling, The 20 Greatest Races, Noel Henderson, ISBN 0 941950 20 4

Footnotes