Il Campionissimo: The King of cool
"There is someone avant-garde in every field, and Fausto Coppi was the avant-garde of cycling. First he got to know himself, how far he could go physically, then everything else followed that. Every cyclist since has been inspired by him. Nothing fundamental has been invented since Coppi.
Raphael Geminiani (center), Fausto Coppi (2nd from right).
Coppi invented cycling. The war caused cycling to revert to a primitive state: the roads were bad, the bikes were heavy, equipment was poor and not properly maintained, back-up was lousy, nutrition old-fashioned. Coppi was the first to modernise cycling, with the help of the Italian manufacturers. Bianchi bikes were beautiful, marvellous things, but there were also the jerseys, socks, gloves, sunglasses..."
-Raphael Geminiani. Former teammate and coach.
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