Did you know...

With the first spring road races kicking off I figured I'd kick out some fun road classics factoids.

Fiorenzo Magni, pictured below, was known as the the third man of post World War II Italian racing. At the time Fausto Coppi and Gino Bertali had captured the hearts of the Italian people who were literally split clean in their allegiance to one or the other of the two. Coppi, the young up and coming racer, held the affections of urban and industrial cycling patrons while Bertali held those of the rural agrarian people.

This is not to say that Magni himself was not an incredible athlete, having won three Giros between '48 and '55, with multiple stage victories and overall wins in several other classics. In an era of cycling giants and a general public fervor for the sport, Magni was simply overshadowed.

Curious what the strip of tape to his teeth is? After having broken his collarbone during a a stage, Magni fastened tape to his handlebars to clench in his teeth, allowing him extra support to complete a strenuous mountain stage. This provided him the necessary leverage and power to remain upright while seated instead of standing on the pedals during the steepest sections of a climb. Like, whoa!






Lastly, if anyone is interested in helping me put on the alleycat on April 7th, please contact me. I should have most things covered but if you want a good excuse to sit one out then I'll cook up some special task for you.