Cycling Weekly – August 22, 2019

14 | August 22, 2019 | Cycling Weekly

T

he first

Italian to win

all three

Grand Tours,

Felice Gimondi, was a

nation’s talisman in the

era of true greats. He

won his debut Tour de

France at the age of 22

after getting a late call

up to start the 1965

edition when a team-

mate withdrew.

Three years later and

he’d won the Giro d’Italia

and the Vuelta a España

— the second rider to

win all three after

Jacques Anquetil and

one of only seven to ever

do so. Victories in

Paris-Roubaix, Il

Lombardia and

Milan-San Remo

followed, and ‘The

Phoenix’ finally landed

the world title in 1973.

Born on September

24, 1942 in Sedrina,

Bergamo, northern Italy, Gimondi grew up

in Italian cycling’s heartland. Little is written

about his amateur days, with his first listed

win being the Giro del Friuli in 1963. He

won the Tour de l’Avenir the following year,

after which signed with the Salvarani team

with whom he stayed until 1972. The rest of

his 15-year career he rode for the Bianchi-

Campagnolo squad. He remained involved

with Bianchi and its teams up until the

present day.

In total he won the Giro d’Italia three

times and finished on the podium on

another six occasions. His other victories

included the Volta a Catalunya, Tour de

Romandie, Paris-Brussels, Giro del Lazio

and the Grand Prix des Nations among

many others. It was suggested that the only

thing that prevented more wins was the

emergence of Eddy Merckx.

Speaking to the ANSA news agency,

Merckx said: “This time, I lose. First of all, I

lose a friend and then the opponent of a

lifetime. We competed for years on the road

against each other, but we became friends at

the end of our career. “

“I had only one idol in my life: Felice

Gimondi,” Italian national coach Davide

Cassani said of Gimondi’s death. “Whenever

I saw him it was an emotion because when

you fall in love with a champion it is for

life. You were great, Felice.”

Following his cycling career he briefly

worked with the Gewiss-Bianchi and

Mercatone Uno teams and was a regular

attendee of major events.

Gimondi died while on holiday last week.

He suffered a heart attack when swimming

in the sea during a vacation on Sicily. He

was 76.

BRITS ABROAD

MAX

WILLIAMSON,

20

Eiser-Hirumet,

Durango, Spain

Still enjoying Spain?

It feels like my second home and I’m

comfortable with the team and the

town I live in.

What’s the biggest thing

you’ve learned?

That big improvements can be found

off the bike. You can’t be in 100 per

cent condition all year. It’s important

to take time to do other things.

Same team yet again?

It’s my third year here and I stayed

because the calendar got even

better. Last summer I was getting

top 10s and top 20s and I wanted to

capitalise on that.

How’s the season been?

A disappointment. At the end of

February, four days before my first

race of the year, I had a crash in

training. I was injured for almost a

month and every time I’ve tried to

return something else has pushed

me back.

How are you now?

I’ve just spent time in the UK and

have got my health issues sorted.

The team have been really

supportive of me and I go into the

last 10 weeks with a packed calendar.

Late-season aims?

There are so many races, most of

them back-to-back one-day races.

The U23 Basque Series is a big aim as

riders come from all over Spain and

Europe to race. If I am riding well and

am strong enough to handle the

climbs, I can get top 10s. I proved last

year I can be consistent.

CW — PROUD TO

SUPPORT THE DAVE

RAYNER FUND

Felice Gimondi

1942 – 2019

NEWS

Ph

ot

o^ C

W

ar

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ive

Gimondi won all

three Grand Tours

Legendary Italian was one of the all-time greats