Fiorenzo Magni - RIP

TheBlaaMan

I see the 'Lion of Flanders' has died just short of his 92nd birthday. One of the old hard men of cycling in the days of Coppi & Bartali.




Here's the famous story behind the pic. http://rouleurmagazine.wordpress.com/tag/fiorenzo-magni/

Flandria

Hard man supreme - RIP

check_six

Flandria wrote: »

Hard man supreme - RIP

Rest in peace, indeed.

Although, I hardly think a spot of death is going to stop a man like Magni going for a spin on his bike if he wants to...

happytramp

Go Fiorenzo go!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVNI0p_7MLw

dewindygap

A legend

Wishbone Ash

"People say I was unlucky to ride with Coppi and Bartali. It isn't true.I was very lucky. Those two devils taught me how to lose properly".

RIP to "the third man".

Wibbs

In these current times of revelations and disgrace in the great sport of cycling it's good to remember real champions, true sporting heroes(who got paid feck all to boot) and good men like Fiorenzo being lauded. Adding to Wishbone Ash's great quote of FM I love his other quote on racing with Coppi and Bartoli "In life, defeats are more likely to happen than wins. Losing to Coppi and Bartali, and therefore congratulating them, is an experience that I am happy to have had and an experience that taught me a lot. I have always admired them for what they could do and esteemed them for who they were. Not only they were champions, they were also great men. Why do you think we are still speaking about them? Because they made history. I consider myself lucky because racing with them I could be part of this history. I would have won more without them but it wouldn't have been during a legendary cycling era." Can you imagine an Armstrong saying similar? Not just him either.

Nice clip of his bike on youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoyW2rmHp8Y

Wishbone Ash

Cycling's ultimate hard man resorts to the use of a cap during a climb in the snow in the 1956 Giro!

TheBlaaMan

Fiorenzo Magni in 2010 with Damiano Cunego

Wibbs

When you look at Fiorenzo's(and Coppi et al) bike and think it probably weighed 25 odd pounds, 11-12kgs for the younger viewers*, and he had no brifters, hell downtube shifters and ten speeds** would have made his jaw drop, he had to reach back, avoid flying spokes and muscle into a new gear, in one very true way oul Lance Armstrong got it dead right, it's not about the bike. I remember realising this when I was a kid when I had a go of a mates very fancy all aluminium Vitus frame as ridden by Sean Kelly at the time. You could have stuffed the seat tube and bottom bracket with Viagra and it would have still been as stiff as a rotten banana.






* that said an Italian ex of mine's uncle had a late 50's pro racing bike that he still cycled and though primitive in nearly all respects compared to today's stuff actually weighed just about 21 pounds including pedals etc.

**in old money. Five in the back, two up front, none of these Spinal tap "these go to eleven" stuff. Damn kidz and their fancy ways! Haaaarumph.