Gaetano Belloni

Gaetano Belloni 1922

Gaetano Belloni (born August 27, 1892 in Pizzighettone ; † January 9, 1980 in Milan ) was an Italian cyclist who went down in Giro history as the eternal second .

Athletic career

The family moved to Milan, where Gaetano Belloni became an apprentice in a textile factory. In an accident at work, he lost his thumb and index finger on his right hand, which excluded him from participating in the First World War as a soldier. Belloni began in the sporting field with Greco-Roman wrestling, but soon got into cycling . In 1912 he made his debut as an amateur. His greatest success was winning the overall ranking of the Giro d'Italia in 1920 .

Belloni also started in 28 six-day races, of which he won three: 1922 in New York City with Alfred Goullet , 1929 in Chicago with Reggie McNamara and 1930 in New York with Gerard Debaets . In 1932 he retired from cycling, became the sports director of various teams and race organizer at the Velodromo Maspes-Vigorelli in Milan .

Palmarès (selection)

Belloni won numerous races, including

• Giro d'Italia: (12th stage, overall victory 1920)
• Milan – Sanremo : (1917, 1920)
• Milan-Turin: (1918)
• Giro di Lombardia: (1915, 1918, 1928)
• Giro della Provincia di Milano: (1917, 1920, 1921, 1922)
• Milan-Modena: (1918, 1921, 1925)
• Rome-Naples-Rome: (1929)
• Six Days New York: (1922, 1930)
• Six Days Chicago: (1929)

Teams

1916 - Bianchi 1917 - Bianchi 1918 - Bianchi 1919 - Bianchi 1920 - Bianchi 1921 - Bianchi-Dunlop

1922 - Bianchi 1923 - Legnano 1924 - Legnano 1925 - Wolsit 1926 - Opel-Pollack 1926 - Wolsit

1927 - Opel-Pollack 1928 - Wolsit 1929 - Bianchi 1930 - Bianchi 1931 - Bianchi 1932 - Olympia

Web links

Commons : Gaetano Belloni  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Gaetano Belloni in the Radsportseiten.net database

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Roger de Maertelaere: Mannen van de night , Eeklo 2000, p 190f.