CyclistFor the love of ciclismo: A history of cycling in 6 objects at Italys Ghisallo MuseumOn the shores of Italys Lake Como, a bidons throw from the Madonna del Ghisallo climb and its accompanying chapel, sits the Ghisallo Museum. Founded by one of Italys most celebrated cycling sons and ardent collector, the late Fiorenzo Magni, its home to hundreds of bicycles and thousands of pieces of memorabilia, and no trip up the Ghisallo is complete without stopping by. Staff will even provide slippers so you dont you dont have to walk around in your cleats.From Hour record bikes to historic jerseys and everything in between there are even Fausto Coppi-branded razor blades the Ghisallo houses one of the most elaborate cycling collections in the world. Nothing owned, all loaned or donated, and all for one reason: a true, Italian-level passion for cycling.Cyclist visited one sweaty afternoon after a ride up the Ghisallo, where we were shown around by museum director Carola Gentilini and press officer Clara Azzali, who picked out some of the museums most treasured pieces and shared the stories behind them.The cycling memorabilia here numbers in the thousands, all of it donated or loaned.Mike MassaroThe monument to Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali outside the chapel honours one of the greatest rivalries in the history of the sport.Mike MassaroMike MassaroVincenzo Torrianis megaphone, circa 1950Long before radio, race directors used megaphones, shouting at riders from the open tops of cars, and used lavagna chalkboards to display information like time gaps, says Azzali. We have a lavagna here that would be worn by race officials, made of wood and fitted with two deflated tubular tyres that acted as braces, and this megaphone belonging to Vincenzo Torriani, Giro dItalia patron from 1949 to 1993.While the Tour had Henri Desgrange and Flix Lvitan, the Giro had Armando Cougnet and Torriani, the former the founder, the latter the man who made the race what it is today. He brought the Giro to the Stelvio in 1953 and the Gavia in 1960, assuaging any concerns of bad weather with the retort, If it rains, you get wet.Torriani also oversaw Milan-San Remo and Il Lombardia, adding the Poggio (1960) and Cipressa (1982) to the former, and to the latter the infamous Muro di Sormano (1960), a one-time drovers track he reportedly discovered on holiday, whose 27% gradients proved so difficult it was removed in 1962 after rider protests (it returned, mercifully tarmacked, in 2012). But its arguably Torrianis image that made him such a legend among Italians. Suavely dressed, silver hair coiffed and cigarette perpetually hanging off his lip, Torriani cut a figure part statesman, part capo, as feared for his bullish nature as he was revered for his gusto.The Italians recognise two people at first sight, wrote La Gazetta dello Sport journalist Claudio Gregori. Torriani and the Pope.With thanks to an article by William Fortheringham in ProCycling circa 2020Mike MassaroMaglia Rosa collection, 1935-presentI think this is the most important part of our collection, says Azzali. It was created with La Gazzetta dello Sport, the newspaper that set up the race in 1909 and introduced the pink jersey in 1931 to match its paper. We have nearly 70 jerseys now with many donated by the riders, the earliest from 1935, which was won by Vasco Bergamaschi. One special one is from 1955, won by Fiorenzo Magni, which has the first non-cycling sponsor in the cycling world on it: Nivea. Magni went to them in 1954 and asked them to sponsor his team, because his bike sponsor Ganna had withdrawn support. With that he changed forever how cycling teams were funded.Mike MassaroStephen Roches 1987 jersey is also very special as this was the Triple Crown year. Its amazing to think it was still wool. We also have the black jersey, the maglia nera, for the rider in last place overall. It came in after the war in 1946, when Italy was very poor, so the organisers gave it as a cash prize, but by 1951 they abandoned the idea as riders started hiding in barns or at the side of the road to make the time cut at the last possible moment.The last rider to win the jersey was Giovanni Pinarello, whose performance was deemed so poor that his team, Bottecchia, paid him 100,000 lire to end his contract early. He used the money to set up a bike business.Mike MassaroTour of Flanders winners sashes, 1949-51Fiorenzo Magni was often called the third man because of the intense rivalry between Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali that dominated his career, says Gentilini. He still won the Giro dItalia three times, in 1948, 1951 and 1955, but he never won the Tour de France. He did come close. He was wearing the yellow jersey on the 12th stage of the race in 1950 when his team captain, Bartali, was attacked by hostile fans [back then teams were organised by nation]. Bartali ordered the Italian team to leave the race, and though Magni argued they traded insults and really went at each other he eventually agreed to leave.It is something of a mystery why Magni agreed to leave the race, but he had other successes. He was an excellent one-day racer and won the Tour of Flanders three years in a row [1949-1951], earning the nickname Il Leone delle Fiandre, the Lion of Flanders, even though he was Italian. These are the sashes he was awarded.Perhaps his most famous moment came in the 1956 Giro. He crashed on a descent in Tuscany [on Stage 12] and broke his collarbone, but he didnt want to abandon the race. The next day was an uphill time-trial, but Magni couldnt really use his left arm to brace himself when he was climbing, so his mechanic, Faliero Masi [who built Masi bikes, including this silver one here, made for Magni in 1980] had the idea of wrapping a piece of inner tube around the bars that Magni could hold between his teeth to steady himself. He actually crashed the day after too, fainted from the pain and ended up in an ambulance. But when he came to he shouted to the driver to let him out, and he kept going.Magni eventually finished the Giro second overall to Charly Gaul, adding further feats of heroism through a snowy 242km mountain stage that saw 60 riders abandon, earning him a second nickname, Fiorenzo il Magnifico.Mike MassaroGino Bartali Tour de France bike, 1938We dont buy anything and we dont sell, says Gentilini, although sometimes people make us offers. There was a Taiwanese gentleman who really liked one of our Colnago-Ferrari bikes and offered me 100,000, but that is not what we do, especially as our president is a huge Gino Bartali fan, meaning this bike is one of the most special in the collection.This is the bike Bartali won his first Tour on in 1938. He was a very religious man, and you can see at the back of the stem what looks like a coin with the Virgin Mary, because he wanted her protection when he raced. In 1938 we were under the fascist regime, and Benito Mussolini told Bartali to go to the Tour instead of the Giro because Italy needed international recognition. When war broke out, Bartali hid documents for the Jews in his bike and he was able to cycle around Italy delivering them because he was now so famous for his win that the police didnt stop him.Mike MassaroThis bike is a Legnano, featuring the companys trademark seat binder bolt just in front of the seat tube lug, along with some of the most advanced components of the day. Above the bottom bracket sits a device that drips oil onto the chain, which was crucial for the operation of Bartalis Vittoria Margherita gears four in all via a complex lever system. Step one, push the lever by the chainset forwards to release chain tension. Step two, twist the handle on the levers end to actuate a rudimentary derailleur on top of the chainstay that pushes the chain left or right, while back-pedalling to get the chain to catch onto the next sprocket. Step three, pull the lever to re-tension the chain. A famously convoluted system, but one Bartali was famously good at using.Mike MassaroStephen Roches kit, 1988Stephen Roche was an interesting rider for Italian fans. Of course he won the 1987 Triple Crown [the Giro dItalia, Tour de France and World Championships in one season], but he was not liked in Italy because of that Giro, says Azzali.Indeed, as Roche told the Cyclist Magazine Podcast, he had his bags packed and a car with engine running, ready to take him out of Italy as soon as he crossed the line on the last days time-trial. Riding for Italian team Carrera Jeans-Vagabond, Roche was tasked with supporting defending champion and team leader Roberto Visentini, and by Stage 13 things were going to plan, the pink jersey having moved from Roches shoulders to Visentinis. But on Stage 15 Roche found himself in a breakaway his leader had missed, and despite instructions from his directeur sportif to slow down, he pushed on, eventually putting 6min 50sec into Visentini. The day ended with the Irishman back in pink and his apoplectic team leader 3min 12sec down in GC.The backlash that followed was huge. Roche received death threats, made all the more credible by the insults, spitting and punching he received from enraged tifosi as he raced up the climbs the next day. A few stages later, Visentini fell and retired, while Roche went on to win.Curiously, while his teammates wore the legendary denim Carrera Jeans kit seen here, Roche raced in black, Peugeot-branded shorts. A contract dispute years before with ex-team Peugeot was finally put to rest when Roche and Carrera agreed to Roche racing with his old sponsors branding for two seasons.Mike MassaroFausto Coppi Hour record bike, 1942We have lots of track bikes here the Hour record bike of Francesco Moser for example but this one is really special: Fausto Coppis Hour record bike of 1942, says Gentilini. Coppi had won the Giro dItalia aged just 20 on 9th June 1940, then the next day, 10th June, Mussolini declared war on France and Germany. The legend goes that by 1942 Coppis managers feared he would be called up to the front so they suggested he try to break the Hour record, and he thought, OK, maybe if I do this epic thing they will let me avoid military service.Mike MassaroHe couldnt prepare very well as there was rationing of food and petrol, so he couldnt train behind a motor-pacing derny. For the attempt he even had to ride 100km from his home town in Castellania to the Vigorelli Velodrome in Milan. But somehow he broke the record by just 31m [riding 45.798km], although the plan didnt work, as the government still sent him to do military service in Africa. Coppi became a prisoner of war, returning to Italy in 1945 and racing the first post-war Giro dItalia in 1946, where he was runner up to Gino Bartali. He then won the Giro in 1947, much to the delight of all of Italy.For 1946, Coppi had signed with Bianchi, but prior to that he rode for arch-rivals Legnano, the makers of this bike (note the elegant L for Legnano inset on the cranks). With a 52-tooth chainring and 15-tooth sprocket its some way off the monster 6414 gear turned by current Hour record holder Filippo Ganna (56.792km), and it seems incredible that riders ever rode on wooden rims such as these. But the silk used in the high-end tubulars endures, even if the rubber has long since perished.The post For the love of ciclismo: A history of cycling in 6 objects at Italys Ghisallo Museum appeared first on Cyclist.