Pasquale Fornara

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Pasquale Fornara (born March 29, 1925 in Borgomanero , † July 24, 1990 ibid) was an Italian cyclist in the 1950s. With a total of four victories, he is the record winner of the Tour de Suisse . In addition, he was second in the Tour of Spain in 1958 and third in the Giro d'Italia in 1953 .

Career and Success

Pasquale Fornara owed his first name to his birthday: He was born on Easter Sunday 1925.

In 1949 Fornara became a professional racing cyclist , and in 1950 he won his first major race with Milano-Modena . Two years later he was able to achieve his first successes in tours : he first won the 18th stage of the Giro, and a few weeks later he won his first victory at the Tour de Suisse with two stage wins.

In 1953, Fonara focused on the Giro d'Italia . After a stage win, he won the mountain classification and was also third overall, in 1954 he then took part in the two most important tours, the Giro and the Tour de France . In the Tour he missed a podium place by 71 seconds in fourth, and in the Giro, as in the World Championship road race this year, he was seventh. For the second time he won the Tour de Suisse .

In 1956 he won the Tour de Romandie , but also experienced the greatest defeat of his career. As the leader since the 14th stage, he went into the last mountain stage of the Giro d'Italia , with over 14 minutes ahead of the eventual winner Charly Gaul , but already lost more than five minutes and thus the virtual one before the final ascent on Monte Bondone Guided tour to runner-up Fiorenzo Magni . As the riders reached the base of the climb, it began to snow, which soon turned into a blizzard on the climb. Fornara sought refuge in a farmhouse and, like 45 others, was eliminated from the 89 starters that day.

In 1957 he was able to win the Tour of Switzerland again and place eighth in the top ten in the Giro and Vuelta, and in 1958 he won the Tour de Suisse for the last time . In 1959 he and Pierre Brun won the Prix ​​Dupré-Lapize railway competition .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ velonews.com of May 23, 2006: "50 years later: Remembering Charly Gaul's great ride" ( Memento of August 4, 2008 in the Internet Archive )

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Fornara, Pasquale
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian cyclist
DATE OF BIRTH March 29, 1925
PLACE OF BIRTH Borgomanero
DATE OF DEATH July 24, 1990
Place of death Borgomanero