Readers' Circle Foundation. History of a Champion. 100 years of Fausto Coppi
"One man alone in charge, his jersey is white and blue, his name is Fausto Coppi". How many times did Dad remind me of the exciting radio report by a young Mario Ferretti who, with that phrase, went down in the history of sports journalism, just as Fausto Coppi, with that epic victory in the Cuneo-Pinerolo race of the 1949 Giro d'Italia, became a legend not only of cycling, but of sport as a whole. Was Fausto Coppi the strongest cyclist of all time?
It's hard to say, other champions claim that supremacy, but surely he - like few others - inflamed hearts, dispensed emotions, gathered adoring crowds at the roadside and on top of the hills that marked the epic of cycling: Sestriere, Izoard, Galibier, Iseran, Maddalena. The Airone, the Campionissimo, Fostò (as the French called him), inflicted abysmal gaps (Niccolò Carosio's famous announcement at the arrival of Milan-Sanremo in 1946: "First Fausto Coppi, while waiting for the second, we broadcast dance music"), turning the climbs into solitary catwalks. Remembering him 100 years after his birth means paying homage to an athlete who lives not only in the Olympus of sports gods, but in the hearts of all fans. Giulio Biino - president of the Circolo dei lettori Foundation
In order to take care of the territory, create relationships, share knowledge and new synergies, the Fondazione Circolo dei lettori is coordinating, in collaboration with various Piedmontese organisations, Storia di un campione. 100 anni di Fausto Coppi, a project of the Piedmont Region, a year of events designed to celebrate the most famous and successful rider of the golden age of cycling. An exceptional Piedmontese, whose exploits were narrated by the great writers of the time.
