Fiorenzo Magni

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Fiorenzo Magni 2006

Fiorenzo Magni (born December 7, 1920 in Vaiano ; † October 19, 2012 ibid) was an Italian cyclist who won the Giro d'Italia and the Tour of Flanders three times .

Cycling career

Fiorenzo Magni left school at the age of twelve and started cycling , inspired by the Tuscan racing driver Aldo Bini . Five years later his father died in a traffic accident; Magni now had to support the family himself with the racing awards he had won.

Magni was looked after by his role model Bini, with whose help Magni also made the leap into the professional field to the Bianchi team in 1941 . During his time as an amateur, he started for the Pedale Monzese club . At Milan – Turin , his first professional race, the Italian finished fifth, and a little later at Milan – Sanremo, fourth. A year later, Magni won his first professional race with the Tour of Piedmont , but then his career was hampered by the Second World War , during which there were hardly any cycling races in Italy.

In 1947 - now with the Viscontea team - Magni did his first three-week tour of the country with the Giro d'Italia and finished ninth. It became more and more apparent that Magni had above-average downhill qualities.

In the following year the Tuscan moved to the Wilier Triestina team . Surprisingly, he won the Giro d'Italia because he took thirteen minutes away from the two big favorites Gino Bartali and Fausto Coppi on the ninth stage as part of a 20-man breakaway group . He benefited from the rivalry between the two, who could not agree on the persecution. On the 17th stage in the Dolomites , Magni received a two-minute penalty for being pushed. But Coppi's team considered this penalty to be too small and left the race. In the end, Magni won the pink jersey by eleven seconds over Ezio Cecchi .

A year later, Fiorenzo Magni surprisingly prevailed on the cobblestones of the Tour of Flanders . He contested the race as a single driver without team support and was able to beat the Flemish favorites Briek Schotte and Raymond Impanis in the sprint. He also won the race in the following two years.

On his second participation in the Tour de France in 1950, Magni secured the yellow jersey on the eleventh stage from Pau to Saint Gaudens . In the overall standings he was four minutes ahead of Louison Bobet and Gino Bartali , who were no longer among the favorites. After a dispute with Jean Robic , the 1947 Tour winner, Bartali used the pretext that he had been threatened by the French audience and made the decision to withdraw himself and his Italian team from the tour. Team manager Alfredo Binda agreed. Magni, who had not even been asked for advice, complied despite the fact that he was facing the greatest victory of his career. The tour winner was Ferdy Kübler from Switzerland . Magnis made five starts on the Tour between 1949 and 1953, 6th place in 1949 and 1952 were his best results.

In 1951 Magni won the Giro d'Italia shortly before the end with a brilliant descent from the Passo di Costalunga and was also Italian champion.

In 1953, the sponsor of his team Ganna got out due to financial difficulties, and Magni had to look for a new team. He came up with the idea of allowing sponsors for cycling teams that did not make bicycle products. The rules of the world association UCI were changed accordingly, and with the help of his friend Fausto Coppi the innovation was also implemented at the Tour de France . This Magnis idea revolutionized professional cycling; he himself could now drive in a team sponsored by the face cream manufacturer Nivea .

In 1955 he won the Giro d'Italia one last time, because on the penultimate stage he took advantage of a flat tire from leading Gastone Nencini and was able to catch up two minutes behind. All in all for Magni den Giro every year between 1947 and 1956. With the exception of 1949, he was always among the ten best drivers in the overall classification.

In the same year Magni drove the Vuelta a España for the first time and won the mountain classification there .

After the 1956 season, Fiorenzo Magni ended his career, which had started with a victory in the tour of the province of Milan . Between 1940 and 1956 he had achieved a total of 72 victories as a professional driver.

Politics, work and private matters

In the 1940s, Magni sympathized with Italian fascism and was a militiaman of the Repubblica Sociale Italiana founded by Benito Mussolini . After the Second World War , he was for alleged involvement in the massacre of Valibona accused in the 1944th As witnesses of repute were u. a. named the racing cyclists Alfredo Martini and Gino Bartali. The later Commissario Tecnico of the Italian national team Martini stated that Magni was “a good and honest person” despite his communist convictions. Bartali, on the other hand, who was posthumously honored as Righteous Among the Nations in 2013 for his efforts to save Jews from the Holocaust , refused to testify on behalf of Magni. Magni was acquitted due to an amnesty .

In 1955 Magni decided to sell cars in addition to his work as a professional cyclist. After the end of his active career, Magni successfully ran his car dealership near Monza , despite his old age until his death.

Magni was President of the Museo del Ciclismo Madonna del Ghisallo near Como . This Madonna is considered the patron saint of racing cyclists. For many years he was also President of the Italian Professional Drivers Association.

Magni died on October 19, 2012 of complications from an aneurysm . He was married and the father of two daughters.

successes

1942

1947

1948

1949

1950

1951

1952

1953

1954

1955

1956

Grand Tours placements

Grand Tour 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956
Yellow jersey Vuelta a España - - - - - - - - 13 -
Maglia Rosa Giro d'Italia 9 1 DNF 6th 1 2 9 6th 1 2
Yellow jersey Tour de France - - 6th DNF 7th 6th 15th - - -
Legend: DNF: did not finish , abandoned or withdrawn from the race due to timeout.

Teams

  • 1941-1943 Bianchi
  • 1944 Monzese pedals
  • 1945 Ricci
  • 1947 Viscontea
  • 1948–1950 Wilier Triestina
  • 1951-1953 Ganna
  • 1954–1956 Nivea-Fuchs

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Fiorenzo Magni dies at the age of 91. Cycling News, October 19, 2012, accessed on October 19, 2012 (English).
  2. ^ Giampiero Petrucci, Carlo Fontanelli: Corse promiscue sotto le bomb . La Biblioteca del Ciclismo. La Biblioteca del Ciclismo, Geo Edizione 2000, p. 48 (Italian).
  3. ^ A b c Luciano Boccaccini, Giovanni Tarello: Annuario Storico Del Ciclismo Italiano . Publialfa Edizion, Milan 1994, p. 229 (Italian).

literature

  • Herbie Sykes: The Way to Flanders, Procycling (German edition), February 2014, p. 65 ff

Web links
personal data
SURNAME Magni, Fiorenzo
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian cyclist
DATE OF BIRTH December 7, 1920
PLACE OF BIRTH Vaiano
DATE OF DEATH 19th October 2012
Place of death Vaiano