WHEN LUCCA WAS THE PROTAGONIST OF THE GIRO D’ITALIA WITH IVANO FANINI’S TEAMS (PHOTO GALLERY) – Ciclismoblog.it

by Valter Nieri from Gazzetta di Lucca

Lucca cycling reached the peak of its popularity at the turn of the 80s and 90s thanks to the professional teams of Ivano Fanini who became the far-sighted president and owner, so much so that it represented a phenomenon on a sporting level never equaled again in the entire sport of Lucca. On Tuesday the pink caravan passes through Lucca during the 196km tenth stage from Scandiano to Viareggio. The memories therefore come back to mind of the only stage successes of a team from Lucca in the history of the pink race, successes of a generation that contributed to raising the standards of cycling and of athletes who were little known until then, so much so as to make Fanini’s team a true legend. His passion for cycling dates back to ancient times when, as a boy, he won in the sprint in the rookie and student categories and at just 21 years old he was already part of the first Fanini teams, founded by his father Lorenzo, the pioneer of Lucca cycling, ready to changing its history by reaching professionalism and he did so by already proving as a boy what fatigue is at a competitive level and what physical effort and suffering meant to achieve goals. Making space among a thousand difficulties, he immediately demonstrated a strong intuition in discovering young talents and in 1984 he founded the first professional team in Lucca which continued in conjunction with various sponsors, lastly linking itself to the message of Love and Life, for 37 consecutive years, winning classics in all over the world, offering athletes to the various national teams both on the road and on the track where it boasts several world titles. With great skill in motivating his runners, he induced them to focus their attention and concentration, inviting them to self-esteem and a winning strategy to achieve individual and team goals.

FROM CHIOCCIOLI TO MAGNUSSON, THE STAGE SUCCESSES IN 15 PARTICIPATIONS IN THE GIRO

His relationship with the pink race began in 1984 and since then there have been 15 participations with his teams. In 1985 his first stage success thanks to an amazing solo by Franco Chioccioli in the 14th stage Frosinone-Gran Sasso d’Italia with the Maggi-Fanini. A success achieved after having also overcome the resistance of the Australian Matthew Wilson and Francesco Moser, who came second and third respectively in the Giro led up to that point and then won by the great Bernard Hinault. A victory for the climber from Arezzo which gave him the awareness to aim for the general classification in the following years, so much so that he won the Giro in 1991 at almost 32 years of age. From a solo success to a sprint success. Ivano Fanini’s second joy at the Giro was in 1987 when he won the 14th stage from San Marino to Lido di Jesolo with the Remac Fanini thanks to the Roman Paolo Cimini who surprisingly got the better of Paolo Rosola, the sprinter of the moment. By now a team from Lucca was routinely placed among the greats of international cycling, to the disbelief of many athletes who had witnessed the triumphs of the Fanini teams throughout Italy but at an amateur level and at this point the bar had been raised further. In 1988 it was the turn of a Pisan to triumph at the Giro: Alessio Di Basco, protégé of Fanini himself. It was the year in which for the first time in the world in professionalism a cycling club raced and won with two teams. Di Basco with the colors of Seven Up-Fanini won the 9th stage from Pienza to Marina di Massa, overtaking great sprinters such as Guido Bontempi and Urs Freuler in the sprint, but at the same time Pepsi-Fanini won in other classics. Di Basco himself was the creator of a controversial finish in the 20th stage of that edition which was resolved in a sprint. In the Arta Terme-Lido di Jesolo he was preceded on the finish line by Paolo Rosola but the victory was attributed to him with the consequent downgrading of Rosola himself accused of having received a push from Pagnin during the sprint. After a few hours the jury accepted Bianchi’s complaint and returned her success. However, some cycling sites still attribute the success to Di Basco. 1988 was the edition that allowed for the first and only time Lucca cycling to win the final classification of the white jersey as best youngster which went to Stefano Tomasini (Fanini-Seven Up) who placed ninth in the general classification.

AT THE 1990 Tour FABRIZIO CONVALLE OPENS THE ERA OF LOVE AND LIFE

The era of Love and Life begins and one of its athletes in the 1990 Giro hits the mark in the 5th stage from Sora to Teramo: Fabrizio Convalle. The long distance cyclist from Carrara makes it a stage of 233 km. exhausting. He also outdid himself on the climb, being among the first at 1395 meters of Rocca di Cambio and 1295 meters of Passo delle Capannelle in an edition won by Gianni Bugno who held the jersey from the first to the last stage.

HATRICK BY SWEDEN GLENN MAGNUSSON FROM 96 TO 98

The cyclist wearing the Fanini jersey who has won the most stages of the Giro d’Italia is the Swede Glenn Magnusson with three victories achieved with the Rossoneri jersey like Milan Amore and Vita-Forzarcore: the first in 1996 when he won the 2nd stage from Eluded in Lepanto in Greece, the encore in 1997 in the 13th stage from Varazze to Cuneo of km. 150 and the third in 1998 during the 9th stage from Foggia to Vasto. For the first time in 1996 the Lucca team won two stages in the same edition. The Danish Bo Larsen responded to Magnusson’s success by winning the 17th stage from Lausanne to Biella.

NO ONE LIKE MARIO CIPOLLINI

When Mario Cipollini from Lucca won yet another sprint in Montecatini on 19 May 2003, he set a new record with 42 stage victories at the Giro, surpassing Alfredo Binda who had won 41 in his career. A record that is unlikely to be equaled in the years to come . Cipollini was the greatest sprinter in the world of all time and gave endless emotions to all athletes. In this case too, Ivano Fanini has the pride of having discovered him himself and of having allowed him to develop as a youth player in his first 12 years of his career. Another detail that links Fanini’s name to the Giro d’Italia concerns one of the strongest sprinters around today: the two-time world champion and track Olympian Jonathan Milan who hit the mark in the 2nd stage of the Giro d’Italia. year, winning the sprint in the Teramo-San Salvo. The Bahrain sprinter Victorius is the son of Flavio Milan whom Ivano Fanini signed for Amore e Vita in 1993, making him his professional debut after the previous year he won several races including the Ezio Del Rosso of Montecatini. It’s a shame that Flavio disappointed expectations a little and ended his career prematurely.
Fanini’s name is therefore also linked to the history of the Giro d’Italia. You listen to him when he speaks and you understand that a manager like that knew how to send his cyclists to races motivated. The most striking thing about him is that he has lived cycling for more than 60 years, ever since he was a child beating his rivals in sprint finishes. Today at 72 years old he is the same. He lives by instinct, feels cycling and doesn’t miss a race on TV. Without him in Lucca we could only talk about some chimerical victory with no future. Instead, for thirty years Lucca cycling was among the most victorious ever at a national level between road, track and cyclocross. Few others have managed to ignite passion in people like he did. The connection with the territory and the student spirit have made him popular. His fiery spirit aroused love and hate, but it certainly made the entire youth cycling movement grow, at least in Tuscany.
And now we say goodbye to the Giro which passes through Lucca on Tuesday ready to applaud the passage of the various Evenepoel, Almeida, Roglic, Andreas Leknessund, today’s protagonists. Every time this happens it is a pink celebration for the whole city because the Giro has a unique and unparalleled charm, but undoubtedly all the fans remain a little nostalgic, of when a team from Lucca, the only one in history, raced to every stage to win it and now without that team there is an unbridgeable void.

Updated stages:

· *** Giro d’Italia 1988) 11 June, 20th Stage (Arta Terme – Lido di Jesolo; km 212):

1st Alessio Di Basco (FANINI – 7UP)

· Giro d’Italia 1990) 22 May, 5th stage (Sora – Teramo; km 233):

1st Fabrizio Convalle (LOVE AND LIFE)

· Giro d’Italia 1996) 19 May, 2nd stage (Elusi – Lepanto – Greece; km 235):

1st Glenn Magnusson (LOVE AND LIFE – FORZARCORE)

· Giro d’Italia 1996) 4 June, 17th stage (Lausanne – Biella; km 236):

1st Nicolaj Bo Larsen (LOVE AND LIFE – FORZARCORE)

· Giro d’Italia 1997) 30 May, 13th stage (Varazze – Cuneo; km 150):

1st Glenn Magnusson (LOVE AND LIFE – FORZARCORE)

· Giro d’Italia 1998) 25 May, 9th stage (Foggia – Vasto; km 169):

1st Glenn Magnusson (LOVE AND LIFE – FORZARCORE)